Love, or Lust?
by once.bitten.and.twice.shy.14
Summary: What would happen if Bella went home to Forks to live with her Dad, Charlie, and older brother, Jasper? All noraml pairings. Full sum inside.
1. Home Coming

**Hi! This is my first ever Fanfict! I know, yay me. So, if you don't mind, take the time to read it and tell me what you think! Thanks! xD**

**Oh, yeah. Here's the summary.**

**What would happen if Bella moved to Forks to live with her Dad, Charlie, and her older brother, (dun, dun, dun!), Jasper. Will she fall in love with Edward, the romantic, dazzling, God-like man that she meets? Or will her future take a terrible turn for the worst? It all depends on her decisions; and the decisions of those around her.**

**Enjoy!!**

**Oh, and I forgot this, too. Silly me!**

**Disclaimer: I am not the wonderful Stephenie Meyer. These are not my characters. I am borrowing them. (Is that okay?) xp**

**And yet again, ENJOY!!**

This was it. My last day in Arizona. How could I actually be leaving? My mother, Renee, had decided that I go live with my father, Charlie, and my older brother, Jasper, in Washington. She was remarried to Phil, my new step-father. I didn't care much for Phil; he was average looking, average height, average IQ. Altogether, average. But he made my mother feel happy, so I didn't fuss when they decided to get married. They were moving to Florida, and I didn't want to barge in on there newly-wed stage, so I decided not to go with them. Renee was persistent with the idea of Phil adopting me, becoming my legal father and me moving to Florida with them. When I refused, saying that they should spend their honeymoon without the hassle of me being around, she decided to send me to Forks.

I had no problem with my father; we just weren't that close. I hadn't seen him in awhile and the idea of moving wasn't too tempting for me. But, after Renee thought of this solution, I didn't want to be an even bigger bother for my mother, so I decided to go along with it. It was determined that I would go to Washington this summer, so that I could start school at the beginning of the year and not miss anything that could possibly be important.

On the plane, I thought about what life would be like now that I was leaving all of my friends and my mother. I knew I would have trouble the first day of school. I hated being the center of attention, and being the new girl in town, that was bound to happen. I sighed. If it made Renee happy, why shouldn't I go? Not everything was about me. The only thing in this situation that mattered was my mother, right? I didn't know. I decided I would give this situation a shot, and if it didn't work, it didn't work. I could fly to Florida and live in the new house with Renee and Phil. Phil could adopt me and we could all be happy. Well, maybe not me, but if they were happy, it was worth it.

When the plane landed, I slowly left my seat. I was one of the last people off the plane. I dragged my feet to the baggage claim. When I looked up, I felt my mouth drop open in shock. Jasper and Charlie were standing with a sign that read, "Welcome Home, Bella!" So what? That was normal, right? Sure. But the huge mass of people around them was definitely _not _normal. Who were these people? Why were they here? I doubted I even knew half of them. I smiled and waved. When I reached the mob of unfamiliar people, I was immediately swept up into a huge hug by one of the few faces that I recognized in the crowd: Emmett.

"Bella! How's it going? It's been, like, _forever _since I've seen you!"

"Can't. Breathe!" I said, struggling for air.

"Oh, sorry," he said, taking a step back. "I'm just so happy to see you!"

I gasped as he pulled me into another big bear-hug. "Emmett! Get off! Everyone else wants to see me, too, you know!"

He stepped back again and smiled.

"Howdy, kiddo!" Charlie said, coming to hug me with much less force than Emmett.

"Hi Dad." I didn't realize until just now that I did know the people in the crowd. Alice, Carlisle, Rosalie, Esme, and Edward. The people who had been like my second family when I would visit Forks.

I jumped as I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and stared into gold. "Hi Jasper!" I said, hugging him, too.

He grinned and chuckled. "Hey Bella. Man, have you gotten _big!_ What, have you grown, like, a foot?"

"It hasn't been _that _long since I've seen you, Jasper. Only about a year." I couldn't help but grin at my brother.

"Bella!" Alice screeched, running the six feet that separated us.

I laughed. "Alice, you haven't changed a bit!" I said, hugging her. I was doing more hugging than I had ever done in my whole life!

She smiled. "So, how have you been? I've missed you so much! We have so much to talk about! How is Renee? And Phil? Did they find a new house, yet?" She asked, talking a mile a minute.

"Alice! Stop! Your giving me a headache. Share me with the others!" I said, sounding just like I did when I was six and I used to visit.

She sighed. "Ok. But we are going to talk later." She smiled at the end and I knew automatically that I was not going to get much sleep tonight.

I turned from Alice and stepped forward to hug Esme and give her a peck on the cheek. I did the same to Carlisle, and Rosalie. Then I came to Edward. He and I hadn't ever been that close, but for some reason, every time I got close to him, I felt something like an electric current pulling me towards him. I hesitantly stepped forward to give him a hug, too. I didn't want anyone to pick up on my feelings.

"H-hi Edward." I said, stuttering a bit when I first tried to talk.

"Hello Bella." His voice seemed strained. His eyes also seemed darker than the warm gold I remembered. I had always wondered why all the Cullen's had had gold eyes, along with my brother. Contacts? I didn't think so. They looked too flawless to be contacts. Why would they all wear contacts, if they were?

I stepped back from Edward and made my way back to the center of the loose circle that my friends had formed.

"It's really nice to see you all. Thanks for coming to meet me here." I smiled a halfhearted smile towards the end. Why were they all being so quiet? Except for Alice, not one of them had said anything other than their greeting.

Alice came up from behind me and grabbed my arm. "Okay. Charlie? Can Bella ride with me in my car? I still want to talk to her about Phoenix." I grimaced.

Charlie ignored me. "Sure, sure." He obviously didn't have much to say to me and he'd never been too good at filling silences.

"Yay!" Alice squealed. "We have so much to talk about! Come on, Bella!" She pulled me away to her car.

We rode with Rosalie, Esme, and Edward. I was a little uncomfortable with Edward being with us, but not so much as to say anything. Alice quizzed me on absolutely _everything _about Phoenix. My friends, my house and how it had changed, the weather, Renee, Phil, my new, well old now, high school, movies I'd seen since I'd last talked to her, and the music I listened to. I answered all of her questions as quickly as I could; she talked _really _fast! I missed about half of the things that she said. Rosalie and Esme said little except for when they had a question of their own. Edward was very still, pushed as far away from me as possible, crammed up against the door. I wondered what I had done to make him cringe away from me like that. Edward had never been close with me, just there in the background. I didn't use to notice it as much as now, but it offended me. What did I do that was so horrible to _him?_ Nothing. Nothing at all.

I sighed. "Okay, Alice. I've told you everything. Time to take me home. We can talk more tomorrow."

"Okay." Alice looked reluctant to drive down the long street to my house, but she did.

"Bye everyone! It was really nice to see you all again." I said as we pulled up into my driveway.

"Goodbye, Bella." Esme said, sounding distracted. She was staring at Edward.

I walked inside and went into the kitchen to get a snack. I settled for a granola bar and walked up to my room to unpack. My suitcases were on the small bed in the corner. Everything looked exactly the same as I left it, just more dust. I laid all my stuff on my bed and sorted it into piles: pajamas, shirts, pants, dresses, skirts, and shoes. Then I put them away in my closet and dresser. I glanced at the clock on my wall. Only 7:30. I had at least an hour before an expectable bed time. I went downstairs to look for Jasper.

I found him in the living room watching the TV. The sound was barely on; it could've been on mute, but Jasper seemed intent on what the newscaster was saying.

"Hey Jasper. What's up?" I said.

He turned his head toward me just a fraction of an inch. "Watching the news. There's been a major oil spill just outside of eastern Alaska. They're working on cleaning it up, but it doesn't look too good for the penguins." He chuckled and turned his head fully towards me. His eyes seemed darker than they were at the airport.

"Did you get new contacts?" I asked.

"What?" He seemed confused.

"Your eyes. There darker than earlier."

"Oh, um, yeah. Contacts…" He stood up and went to the phone.

"Who are you calling?" I was still curious about his 'contacts', but his movement to the phone distracted me.

"I'm calling Edward and Emmett. I want to go hiking." He seemed cautious when he answered.

"Hiking? At 7:30? I don't think so." He was lying. I could tell.

He turned and smiled at me while he punched in the numbers on the phone. "Since when do you come here and tell me what I can and cannot do?"

"Since now." I replied.

"Whatever you say, your Highness." He said, sarcasms thick in his voice.

I couldn't help but think how Jasper and I were so different. My parents had adopted him a few years before I was born. He'd been my older brother to everyone around us except for the people who knew us better, were closer to us. They knew he was adopted and nothing more: except the Cullen's. They knew the whole story, probably even more than I knew. Jasper was like one of the family with them. He'd never fit in with Charlie and Renee and I. He didn't eat with us whenever we would have dinner. He was always wandering out into the forest late at night and never telling us when he would be back. He would skip school on the rare, nice day that the sun actually came out. He's part of the reason that Renee left Charlie. He was a strain on their relationship, what with them always having something going on with him. When the tried to take him to the doctor to see if there was something wrong with his disinterest in food, he refused to see anyone but Dr. Cullen. Even then, my parents weren't allowed to sit in on the exam.

Jasper's voice snapped me out of my focus. "BELLA! Jezze, listen now and again, why don't 'ya? Alice wants to know if you'd like to spend the night at their house tonight."

I thought about that for a minute, and while I was busy deciding, Jasper made the choice for me.

"Yeah, she'll be there. 15 minutes? Okay. See you then. 'Bye." He hung up the phone on the receiver. "Alice is coming to pick you up in 15 minutes. Go get your stuff." He ordered.

I scowled. "How do you know I want to go to Alice's? Huh?"

"Your going, okay? Now go and get your clothes."

I sighed in defeat. Good old Jasper, always ordering me around. "Uhg! Fine…" I walked up to my room to get my stuff.

I packed my extra comfy Superman pajamas and threw them in a duffle bag along with my Superman slippers. They were the only pair of pajamas I had that matched so I decided that I would wear them. I walked downstairs and met Jasper at the bottom of the steps.

"Does Charlie know I'm going to Alice's?" I asked.

"Yes. I called him after you went upstairs."

I yawned. "I hope she doesn't expect me to stay up too late. I'm beat." I yawned again just to make my point.

He laughed and ruffled my hair. "She won't, I promise." He laughed again.

Just then, a horn honked impatiently outside.

"That must be Alice." Jasper murmured.

"Whoopee." I said sarcastically.

I grabbed my duffle bag from the ground and trudged out the door. I was raining. Great. I walked back inside to get my raincoat from my suitcase. When I was almost down the steps, I lost my balance and slipped. I landed with a hard thud on the bottom step. The pain brought tears to my eyes. Why did I always have to be such a klutz? I slowly got to my feet and limped to the front door. I locked the deadbolt with the key from under the eve and went to join Alice in her Porsche.

"Hi Alice." I greeted her. Something was definitely wrong. Aalice didn't respond; she had a distant look on her face and her eyes were glazed over. "Alice! What's wrong?!" The panic started to seep through my composed voice.

Her eyes refocused on my face and she smiled halfheartedly. "Hi Bella. When did you get here?" She asked, sounded confused.

"Just a minute ago. What was wrong? Did you just have a seizure or something?" Alice had been diagnosed by Carlisle as to being prone to have seizures. That explained her distant gaze and unfocused eyes.

"What? Oh, uh…" She paused.

"Alice? It's okay. You can tell me." I was curious as to why she was hesitant to answer my question.

"I know. I wonder if that'll upset him…" I was sure she didn't mean for me to hear the last part. I couldn't help but wonder who she was talking about.

"Upset who?"

"What? Did I say that out loud?"

"Uh, yeah. Who would it upset if you told me what happened, Alice?"

She sighed. "Your more observant than I remembered. Fine. I thought it would upset Edward. But since you heard me say that, you not gonna' drop it until I tell you are you?"

I nodded.

She sighed again. "This is going to sound really stupid, but it's true. I can sorta', sometimes, see the future." She took in my calm expression and continued. "Never anything more than just glimpses. Don't worry. I just saw you fall down some steps. Sorry I didn't get inside quick enough to stop you from tripping." She smirked and I scowled.

"Gee, thanks Alice." I said sourly. "And since when have you been able to do this?"

"Since as far back as I can remember. Carlisle says that it's a sort of power that I was born with." She tapped her temple.

"Huh. I wouldn't have guessed that." I shook my head.

She laughed. "Not many people have seen me when I'm having a vision. Strange that I would have one of you; I haven't seen you in my visions for over a year." She turned to me. "I guess it's because your close by."

"Yeah, that makes _so _much more sense now. Thanks Alice." I replied sourly.

She smirked at me and sped of towards her house.

"So, um, I have a question about that whole seeing the future thing, Alice." I said after a moment of silence.

She paused, debating with herself if whether or not she should answer. "Okay, but just one." She said.

How was I going to say this? Uagh!! "Uh, um, I was, uh, wondering why it would, um, upset Edward if you told me that you could, well, see the future."

This caught her off guard. "I don't t-think that he'd like if I told you that." Nervous now, she sped up even faster so that all the trees were just a blur as we raced past them.

"Alice!" I whined. "C'mon! I won't tell anyone."

"Like that would keep anything from him." She muttered under her breath. "Well, Edward kinda' doesn't want you to know that we Cullen's are, uh..._special._"

I was confused. "Why wouldn't he want me to know? Did he think it would scare me if I knew you could see the future? Plenty of people are psychic." I pointed out.

She sighed a short, frustrated sigh. "It's not just me that has _special _talents. Do you know who your parents adopted Jasper from?" She asked, changing the conversation to an unexpected course.

"No." I'd never really cared enough to ask Charlie or Renee.

"Do you know Jasper's old last name?"

"No."

She turned to me. "Cullen." She whispered.

I heard my quick intake of breath as I put two and two together. The gold eyes, the physical resemblance, all the time they spent together camping and other family bonding type of activities, how Jasper referred to Esme as 'Mom' and Carlisle as 'Dad'. I always thought that he just accepted them as his second parents, since he spent so much time at their home, and since it was easier than saying 'Mr. and Mrs. Cullen'. "Alice, I-I, I don't u-understand."

"Bella, Jasper is my brother." She looked at me warily.

I could almost hear everything click together inside my head. "It all makes sense…" And then everything was black.

**Thanks for reading!! I really hope you liked it. This is my first FanFict, like I mentioned before, in case you didn't read it, so if you want me to continue, just tell me so. Even if only one of you wants me to, then I will. **

**Thanks again! (Am I saying "Thanks" and "Enjoy" too much? Sorry if I am! xp)**

**Kendra**


	2. Making Sense

**Hi ya! I finally got the second chapter posted. I stayed up really late writing this. I almost got grounded. That would suck. Anywho, here's the second chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Stephenie Meyer owns everything, and sadly, I am not she. cry, cry.**

**Enjoy!**

As I slept, I dreamed. I saw seven pairs of beautiful gold eyes all revolving around my head. I tried to reach out and touch one, but my finger slid through it, as if it were air. Suddenly, I heard a sweet voice calling my name.

"Bella! Bella! Talk to me!" I wanted to open my eyes and see who it was that was speaking to me.

"Alice! What did you do to her?" Panic was thick in the melodic voice.

"Nothing! She passed out." I recognized Alice's voice even in unconsciousness. "I swear!"

"Bella! Oh my God! Please Bella, listen to me! Wake up!" I had to answer the voice. It was making me crazy not knowing who was talking to me. My eyes fluttered open and I was immediately blinded by the bright light of the sun.

"Bella!" The voice sighed in relief. I turned at the sound of the voice searching for the source. I found what I was looking for: Edward. He was breathtakingly beautiful in the shade of the towering evergreen overtop of my head and his face seemed comforted by the fact that I had supposedly woken up. I didn't remember anything from before this moment, but all I cared about was staring at his face. I had some serious problems.

My face was pulled away from his gaze. I looked up and saw Alice holding my face between her cold hands. "Bella! What happened? Are you okay? What can I do? What do you need?" Her mad questions mumbled off as she pulled me into a tight hug.

"Stop Alice. She just woke up. Move." Edward said as he took a step forward and gently pushed Alice aside, removing her suffocating grip from my shoulders. "Are you sure your fine, Bella?"

His eyes were warm gold; they were oddly relaxing. "Yeah. I'll live."

He frowned. "I'm not worried about that. It's not like you flew through the windshield." His frown deepened and he turned to Alice. "Didn't you tell her about Jasper?"

Alice's mouth was half-open as she began to respond, but with out a response, Edward nodded and shifted his attention back to me. "So you know about Jasper. Or do you not remember?"

I slowly shook my head, remembering. "No. I remember. He's your brother, right?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"And that's why you all have gold eyes and stuff?" I asked.

Both Alice and Edward froze. I wondered what I'd said that had shocked them so much. Alice was the first to speak, although her voice was faint. "Yes. That's…that's why." Edward just continued to stare at me, his mouth slightly open.

"You noticed that?" He asked after a long moment.

I shrugged. "Of course. Why wouldn't I? The resemblance is obvious once you think about it. I mean, the pale skin, the eyes, and all the time you guys spend together." I shook my head. "I really should have noticed, but I guess I just didn't pay attention during the little time that I spent here." I sighed.

"It-its fine, Bella. I'm s-sure that we wouldn't h-have noticed if we hadn't k-known for ourselves." Alice reassured me, although she seemed distracted by Edward. She was staring at him purposefully while he was looking at me with an expression that was somewhere between confused and extremely frustrated, his brow furrowed.

"What?" I asked, suddenly self-conscious.

"Nothing." Edward assured me, his face still locked in the same expression. "Do you feel well enough to walk?"

"Yes." I replied. "Where's the car?" I asked abruptly, my head flinging to my right, and then to my left. "Where are we?"

"Just off of I-10. Are you _sure _your okay?" Alice asked, a hint of worry in her high soprano voice. "You could just lay down for a while longer."

"No, no. I really feel fine." I said, pushing myself up to my knees when Edward's hand shot out to help me up.

"Thanks." I mumbled as he helped lift me to my feet.

He smiled and let go of my hand as he led the way toward the car. When we came to the side of the road, Alice's Porsche and Edward's Volvo sat, idling.

"Gas hogs. Save some for the planet, why don't you?" I muttered under my breath. Edward chuckled and I blushed. I must have said that louder than I thought.

"Bella, why don't you ride with me? I'll drop you off at Charlie's." Edward said suddenly, grinning.

"But Edward! B-" Alice started to complain, but was silence by Edward's hand. "Fine." She mumbled, and stalked towards her car.

My heart was beating franticly as I walked towards Edward's Volvo. This was going to be uncomfortable. Edward never really talked much to me; he seemed to not like me much. At least he seemed to be happy that I was here. Or maybe he was just glad that I was okay and that he wouldn't have to carry me home and explain to Charlie. I had no idea, but I had a terrible feeling that I was going to do something really stupid to change his seemingly happy attitude.


	3. Flashback

**I don't feel like writing a lot, so here's the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Still not mine.**

I finally felt as if I was breathing at a normal speed again. Bella was safe and securely buckled in beside me in my Volvo, and she seemed to be acting like herself; most of the color had found its way back into her skin. I wasn't quite sure that I wouldn't have a problem being around her today, but I felt as if I was in control of my thirst. She had almost pushed me over the edge when we first saw her at the airport. She has come straight up to me and hugged me. I was shocked, but most of all overcome with a sudden need; a need for _her. _If Jasper hadn't have been there, I think I very well may have sucked her dry, right then and there. But he felt my tension and immediately sent me a wave of calmness and satisfaction. As he did this, I found myself even able to hug her back. I was pleasantly surprised at the warmth. She let go all to quickly and gave me a shy smile.

"H-hi Edward." She stuttered at first; it was exceptionally adorable. But at that very moment, Jasper seemed to become distracted by the emotions of a crying teenage girl behind him, and the mysterious contentment that had filled me, vanished. I was suddenly overwhelmed by her scent; I immediately stopped breathing.

"Hello Bella." I replied as kindly as I could, still without taking a breath. I swiftly turned my head away. She took a step back from me, which lessened the potency of her unnerving aroma, and spoke to the rest of my family and Charlie.

At that moment, Jasper realized what he had done, forgetting to keep me intact. He turned to face me.

"_Edward! I'm so sorry! I completely let go of your feelings! Its just that that girl over there, her emotions were going haywire! I cant be expected to ignore that, can I? I did manage to calm her down a little bit though…" _He trailed off and looked back over his shoulder at the girl, who I now saw was no longer crying. He looked back at me and I nodded at him, trying to smile. It came out more like a deformed grimace.

"_Edward." _Alice thought, capturing my attention. _"Do you mind if Bella come to our house tonight? To spend the night I mean." _She asked.

I gave her a wide-eyed glance and nodded my head minutely, so quickly that not even my family would notice.

She shot me a pleading look. _"Please? I have so much that I want to talk to her about. I don't see anything bad happening. She will be safe."_

I stared her down, trying to look as fierce as possible. "No." I mouthed.

"_Edward! I was merely asking to be polite. It does not matter what you think, although I highly suggest that you go hunting tonight. I can see that Charlie will let her come." _She gave me a side-long glance. _"What do you have against her?"_

I shook my head rapidly, as to answer her question, and as to clear my head. I had to get out of here before I went crazy with thirst. I needed to hunt; needed to hunt _bad._ I would leave as soon as I got the chance, and then I would hunt.

Suddenly, my decision switched to one that was much more appealing to me. Why didn't I just offer to drive her home? Take her to a place in the woods. Even a dark, deserted ally would work nicely. I would not have to hunt after I took her with me.

"_No!"_ Alice thought. _"This won't happen! It can't! I must do something."_ She must have seen my decision to take Bella with me. _"I've got it!"_

She strode over to Bella and place her hand on her arm. "Okay. Charlie? Can Bella ride with me in my car? I still want to talk to her about Phoenix." _"He will say yes. Edward, this is for your own good." _She thought.

"Sure, sure." Charlie said. He was distracted, thinking only of tonight's football game on television.

"Yay!" Alice squealed. "We have so much to talk about! Come on, Bella!" She pulled her away to her car.

"I'm coming with you." I said, far to low for Bella or any other human around me to hear. "I am perfectly in control." I lied.

"_I see that. You were not before, but with Rosalie around, I think you will stay in tact. No, wait. I know you will stay in control." _She stated, matter-of-factly.

I chuckled softly under my breath as we walked toward her car. I was interested in hearing what Bella had to say about Phoenix. Maybe it would better help me to see what she was really like, and perhaps make her mind clearer, although I highly doubted that would happen. I settled in for a long ride.

**Sorry this was so short. I'm not very good at writing EPOV. This was basically a flashback to that morning at the airport. The car ride is next! WHOO HOO! I don't really want to beg for reviews, but please, tell me how I'm doing since I'm new at this and all.**

**Kendra**


	4. Speeding

**Hi everyone! Sorry it took so long to update. I've decided that I'm going to work on my new fict, which I will most likely be posting soon, and put these off to the side. Don't worry! I 'll still be writing these, just not updating as often. Unless you guys can convince me to finish this fict first, before I start the next one. It's all up to you my readers!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except for Ryan. He is mine!**

I was hyperventilating again. Edward had turned on the heat, and I was sweating; I don't even think he noticed how warm it had become inside of his car. Every now and again, Edward would glance at me out of the corner of his eye, a movement, I'm sure, he meant to be stealthy. But I caught it every time and it never failed to make me extremely self-conscious.

"So, how was your flight out?" He asked after a few long moments of silence. I turned my head to answer him when I noticed that his eyes were a warm gold, instead of the dark onyx I remembered from this morning.

"Fine, thank you." I said, answering his question. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. "Edward? Can I ask you something?"

He was quiet for a minute before he replied. "That depends. What is your question?"

I took a deep breath. I think that that gesture worried him; he looked at me, suddenly anxious, pleading with his eyes for me to continue. I exhaled sharply. No one should be able to do what he could with their eyes; it was unfair. I looked away as I spoke. "Why are your eyes lighter than earlier? Don't lie to me, please. I am truly curious."

He froze. I inwardly cursed, knowing that I had ruined the whole car ride from this point on. For a few moments, neither one of us spoke. I sat still, waiting to see if he would eventually answer me.

I tensed when I saw a flicker out of the rearview mirror. It was black and white, and moving much to fast. I dismissed it as some sort of mirage from my lack of sleep. But then, Edward, it seemed, saw this strange shape, too, although it had the opposite affect on him; he relaxed tremendously. Edward stared out the back window, his eyes focusing on some unseen shape, his face twisting into a mask of deep concentration.

After another few agonizingly quiet moments, he turned his attention back to me. "Would you believe me if I told you that I honestly cannot say?" He asked.

I thought about this for a while. Maybe he really _couldn't _tell me, and if that was true, I didn't want to push him. But what if he _could _tell me, and he was only choosing not to? I shook my head, deciding that I wanted to know. If he didn't tell me, I knew that I wasn't going to get much sleep tonight. I was surprised at myself; I didn't normally let small things like this bug me. But somehow I felt that this was different. Like there was some big secret that I wasn't in on, and that fact alone was enough to give me the courage to make him tell me what was up with his eyes.

"No. No, I don't think I would." I said.

He sighed. "Then, if I promise to tell you, will you drop it for now?"

I deliberated this for a second. "_When _will you tell me?"

He frowned. "You _are _staying at my home tonight, aren't you? I do believe that Alice's offer still stands."

"Oh." I had completely forgotten that I was supposed to spend the night with Alice. "So you'll tell me then? Tonight?"

"Yes." If it was possible, he frown seemed to deepen at this, like his was dreading the night.

I was startled as the same black and white flash as before passed by my window. I screamed.

"What?!" Edward asked, shocked at my outburst.

"Some thing is out there!" I shrieked, pointed out my window. The same ghostly figure was there, floating just outside my door.

Edward laughed. "Silly Bella. I don't see anything."

"But its _there!_" I shouted, a hint of hysteria crawling into my voice.

"Bella," Edward said, his forehead creasing as he looked past me, out the window. "There is nothing there." As I turned my head, I saw his lips move, and I picked up something along the lines of, "Get away from the window!"

I turned and glared at him. "YOU DO SEE IT!" I accused. Why was he pretending like he couldn't see it?

I rolled down my window at the still figure. It didn't move. Checking to see that my seat belt was on, I reached my hand out the window to touch it. I didn't car how fast we were going, I had to know if it was really there.

"Bella!" Edward yelled as the rain pelted my face. I could reach it; it was too far away. I scooted as close to the door as I could, half of my body getting drenched in the rain as I did so. I was still a good foot away.

"Bella, stop!" Edward said, reaching for my arm. I pulled away, unbuckling my seatbelt.

"Stop!" He said, yet again, reaching for me, and this time finding purchase on my wet skin. "Do you _want _to die?! We're going 95 mph!"

I didn't answer as I wrenched my arm from him. I knew I was being silly, and possibly suicidal, as I leaned as far as I could out the window. I grabbed onto the figure, digging my fingers into something that felt like wet wool. I was immediately pulled out of my seat and out of the car, clinging to the figure to keep myself from hitting the ground. I screamed out in pain as the passenger side mirror struck my arm, nearly causing me to let go of the only thing that was keeping me off of the black top.

"Bella!" Edward screamed in panic, his sharp voice hurting my ears. I screamed again as the figure shifted, pulling me onto what I presumed was its back. I hadn't realized before, but it looked like a human. A very, very fast human. If it was running next to the car, which Edward had said was going 95 mph, then it was deffinatly unnatural.

Suddenly, we stopped. I felt myself being wrenched back, almost pulling my shoulder out of if socket as I clutched the strange figure, and then I was slammed forward, hitting my head on it's back.

"Ow…" I mumbled pathetically. That was going to leave a mark.

I glanced forward, searching for Edward's car. All I saw was a pair of tail lights spinning sideways, turning around, I guessed. I froze as the figure I was holding on to spoke.

"Get down." It ordered. I quickly complied. As I scrambled to my feet, I found myself only knocked off of them again. Before he had swept me into his arms, I caught a glimpse of his face. It was stunningly beautiful. His brown hair was cropped as a short buzz cut, and his features we drawn, his skin tight across his cheek bones. None of this concerned me as deeply as his eyes, though. They were a striking red.

"Bella!" I heard Edward scream from somewhere behind us, his voice distant. "Ryan! Bring her back!" So this man's name was Ryan. Huh…

Only then did I look forward. We were moving at an alarming speed, just as we had been before, except for much, much faster. I screamed out again. I could tell that I was going to loose my voice very quickly if I kept up screaming at the rate that I was.

Ryan looked down at me. "Shh!" He said, moving one of his arms from under me to place his hand over my mouth. "He mustn't find us!"

I felt my eyes grow wide as I nodded. He sighed and removed his hand, only to have me scream again.

"Edward!" I screeched. "Edward, h-" I was cut off by Ryan's hand as it resumed its position over my mouth.

"Bella? Bella, is that you?" Edward's voice was becoming faint as he trailed behind us. I had to get his attention before it was to late. I thrashed in Ryan's arms, all the while, he kept running, not missing a step. His eye's narrowed; I could tell he was becoming frustrated with me. I didn't care. I just wanted Edward to find me so I could go home. I continued to struggle in his arms, although I was making no progress. I sighed and stopped, finding no use in my efforts.

Ryan relaxed his stone grip on me and spoke softly, in a musical voice. "Are you going to be quite now? I promise not to hurt you."

Finding no other option, and wanting desperately for him to remove his hand so I could breathe again, I nodded vigorously. He smiled slightly, his upper lip curving just enough so that I could see his brilliant white teeth. He removed his hand and I took a deep breath. He immediately placed his hand back over my mouth.

"Oh, no you don't. No more screaming today." He said, sounding tired.

"I'm not going to scream." I said from under his hand. It sounded like, "I'd like some ice cream." I laughed. He must have understood me, because he took his hand off my mouth and started walking again.

I looked around me. I wasn't familiar with were we were. What did I expect? I thought. I just moved here! I knew that I had come to visit every now and then, but I preferred to stay inside. I didn't like the rain. All I could tell was that we were in a forest somewhere.

My breathing became heavy as I thought of a murder mystery I had watched on T.V. a few weeks ago. A girl was kidnapped and taken to a forest where her attacked raped and murdered her. I shivered, taking in a panicky breath. Ryan seemed to notice this and stared down at me curiously. I decided I was going to speak.

"W-where are we g-going?" I asked shakily.

"Down to my home." He answered. Great, I thought. Just perfect. He lived in a forest with absolutely _no one _around and I could already hear my voice slipping away. I really was going to die.

"Why?" I asked stupidly.

He sped up. "To dry you off of course. We don't want you getting sick, now do we?"

I groaned. Yup, that's what all the axe murders in the neighborhood say. Nothing to be afraid of. Just the fact that a complete stranger was taking me to his home to dry me off. This would be fun.

I had to remind myself that this was partially my fault. If I hadn't idiotically stuck my arm out the window to touch the strange figure, then I most likely wouldn't be here right now. I let the guilt for the cause of my own death soak in as I worried about Renée, and how badly she would feel when she found out I died. I hoped that it wouldn't kill Charlie, either.

Out in the distance, I spotted a cabin.

"We're home." Ryan said quietly.

**So? How did it turn out? Terrible? Wonderful? Tell me! Also, just to restate what I wrote earlier, for you people that skip over everything, coughcoughSpencercough, it's up to you whether I continue this story full-time, or move on to my nex fict. R&R!**

**Kendra**


	5. Frustration

**Hi my readers! So, I decided to finish this fict, on the request of a few of my wonderful reviewing readers, instead of dropping it for awhile and working on my new one. Is everyone happy? :)**

**Sorry, but this chapter is kind of short. But I _did _give you a long one last time. I was trying to update last night, but didn't get the time. So _I'll _stop writing, and let _you _start reading!**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all! Except for Ryan. He came to me in a dream. :)**

**A/N: It's in Edward's POV. I didn't think I'd have to mention that, since you guys can most likely figure it out, but I got a terrible flame that told me to tell you. Sorry flamer! hehe... (If you don't get it, don't worry your little innocent minds about it. It's just a joke.)**

**Enjoy!**

"Bella!" I screamed. I was going to kill Ryan. He knew that Bella was coming to Forks. Why would he take her? I kept running toward the sound of Bella's muffled cries. I was falling behind. Ryan was the only one who could run faster than me and he knew it. I heard Bella scream. Crap, she was further ahead than I thought.

"Ryan! Bring her back!" I shouted. I searched out in the woods for his mind; it wasn't there. Why the heck wasn't it there?! I wondered why Alice hadn't seen this? She was just one more person to add to my list of vampires to kill today. I would deal with her right after I got to Ryan.

Her scent was fading, along with Ryan's. I cursed softly under my breath. Why had Bella been so stupid? Sticking her arm out of a moving vehicle, only to grab hold of an equally fast object. I wasn't going to reach them; I needed to corner them, stop them somehow. Unfortunately, there weren't many useful things in the forest to help stop a vampire. Bella was whimpering, and trying to free. I could hear her faintly.

"Shh!" I Ryan whispered urgently to Bella. I ran faster. "He mustn't find us!" I growled and he must have heard me, because I could hear him speed up. A few seconds later, Bella screamed again.

"Edward! Edward h-" She was cut off briskly. If Ryan hurt her, he was going to pay. And it would be painful; I would make sure of that.

"Bella? Bella, is that you?" I called out. She had to know that I was still trying to find her; she couldn't lose hope that she would be okay.

I was sure that, if I could cry, I would have been sobbing by now. Bella had been taken, and there was nothing that I could do to save her. I felt useless, and weak. I had tried to get Ryan away from the window by telling him so. But Bella had heard me, or seen me, and she had become suspicious immediately.

The sound of Bella's struggles were fading, almost to the point of no sound at all. As I tried my hardest to run faster, I heard Ryan speak to Bella.

"Are you going to be quite now? I promise not to hurt you." He said in a calming voice. I snorted. A few seconds passed and I caught a fading trace of their trail. I continued to run, never tiring, never slowing.

"I'm not going to scream." Came Bella's soft voice, only a murmur, do to the distance between us. She had given up hope that I would follow her; that I would make her safe again. She was wrong. I would track her down and take her home, where she belonged.

I cringed as I realized that she would want an explanation as to why Ryan and I were moving so fast. I was going to have to tell her our secret.

Everything was dead silent. Not even the birds were out, nor the squirrels, or the rabbits. I could hear nothing. No distant footsteps, no single heartbeat. I could feel the anger rising us in me as I suddenly stopped running, kicking up several tree roots in the process. I screamed out in fury as I punched the nearest tree, causing it to fold in on itself from the impact. I was going to have to involve my family; it was the only way that we could overcome Ryan. He was quicker than all of us, and he had somehow been able to block his thoughts from me today. I turned around towards the direction of my home and sprinted forward at lightening speed. I tried to run faster as I realized that I was moving slow compared to Ryan.

_Ryan. _I scoffed his name. He was going to die, and die painfully. If there was so much as one bruise on my Bella…

Wait! When did I start thinking about her as _my _Bella? She'd only been here, not even one day, and I was calling her my Bella. I guess Alice was right; I did have some possessive traits going on. I never realized.

I shook this thought from my mind, choosing to focus on getting home quickly instead. If Alice didn't see Ryan coming, then she most likely didn't see me running home right now, and I couldn't hope that they would meet me halfway. If I didn't get to my family soon, we might be too late to save Bella from Ryan. I had no idea if he simply wanted a snack, Bella did smell tempting, or if he had _other _ideas in mind. That wasn't too far out of Ryan's character. But I would not allow that. It would not happen if I had _anything _to do with it. Bella would _not _die. Not today.

"We're home." I heard softly in the distance. I growled violently. That was _not _good.

**See the little blue "Go" button? Yeah, you see it don't you? Click it. Click it, and you'll get a chapter faster. It's magic! :)**


	6. True Intentions

**Hi again! I guess that I'm joining a community now! I have a vague idea as to what that is, but guess what? If it isn't fun, I'll make it fun! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, yet again, EXCEPT for Ryan.**

**Enjoy!**

Ryan slowed his mad run, and looked forward now, never glancing at me. I wished I could scream again, but my throat was awfully dry. We were only a few yards from the cabin now. It was a dark auburn, rotted and decayed from years of the tough weather of Forks.

Ryan sent one more sweeping gaze around us; I was still in his arms; and then he sprinted toward the hut at full speed. The sudden velocity knocked me breathless.

As soon as we were inside and Ryan made sure the locks were shut tight, he set me down. I could feel where his arms had left bruises on my back; his arms were like steel. I glanced up at my surroundings. The only objects in the cabin were a small table, old television, bookshelf, couch, and, I gulped, a _king sized bed. _This reinforced my suspicions of Ryan, and I became deathly afraid. If I was correct, this beautiful man was going to torture and kill me. Just then, something silver caught my eye. It was right next to the old couch. I stared at it, trying in to decipher what it was. I stifled a cry when I realized what it was: rope.

I started breathing heavy as I turned to Ryan, who had been watching me this whole time. He smiled wickedly.

"Welcome to my humble abode." He said, gesturing his hand in a motion towards the entire inside of his home.

"W-why am I here?" I asked timidly. I would rather know that I was going to die than be left in the dark.

He paused before answering my question. "Hmmm, well, there is really no reason, except for the obvious."

I _was _right! "Which would be…?" I prodded.

He chuckled darkly. "You don't know?" He asked mockingly. I shook my head. "Well, it would be your scent, of course. Its simply luscious. You drew me to you, you know."

"My scent?" I was confused. This was off base. My _scent _drew him to me?

"Why of course. Didn't your friends explain these things to you?" When I didn't answer, he shook his head in a teasing disappointed manner. "Knowing Edward, he wouldn't tell you even if you guessed right."

My head was spinning. "Guessed _what _right?" I asked. I was becoming impatient. I wanted answers, and I wanted them now.

"What we are, obviously. Didn't you wonder at all why we were running so fast? I knew you humans were oblivious, but you at least had to notice _that._" He said.

"I noticed that. Why were you moving that quickly? Even Edward…" I trailed off, lost in thought.

"Yes. Even Edward. Do you have any idea?"

I thought, but couldn't come up with anything. "No." I said quietly.

He sighed. "They sure pick the _smart _ones." He mumbled. "Perhaps that will help…"

I swallowed, trying to soften the burning ache in my throat so I could scream again. I wasn't making much progress.

He turned and smiled at me, showing off his perfectly white teeth. They sparkled, even in the dim lighting. "It starts with a 'V'." He pressed, trying to get me to guess it. I had no idea.

He sighed again. "So stupid… vampire! Does that ring a bell, Bella?!" He said, his voice rising in frustration. I cringed away from him, sudden realization forming in my mind. He _was _going to kill me, only not they way that I had thought.

He smiled again, pleased by my reaction. "Yes. Vampires. All of them. Esme, Carlisle, Rosalie, Alice, Emmett, Edward, and even Jasper. Does that surprise you?"

I felt a pang of jealously at my brothers name. he had a whole family of superhuman vampires, and he kept it from me. I was angry. And _Alice_; even she lied to me all these years. This burst of anger gave me confidence.

"How long?" I simply stated. I was livid.

"Jasper? Two years. But it was planned for about ten years. All of them were planned, except for Carlisle. He was the beginning." He seemed amused at my expression, but I didn't care. I was fuming.

I spun on my heels and stomped toward the door. I had no idea where I was going, but I needed to get out of here. All of my fear had evaporated.

In and instant, Ryan was in front of me. "Where do you think your going? We weren't through here yet." He said, throwing my backwards and on the bed. I heart was pounding in my ears from the impact.

Ryan collapsed on top of me, making the bed curve from under the combined weight. He inhaled softy. "You smell wonderful." He said lowering his nose to my collar bone. I didn't think that I had the air for it, but I screamed. I screamed as loud as I could. My suspicions were correct. I had been too busy being upset than to think of a plan to get away. My scream was interrupted my Ryan's hand.

"Aw! Don't be like that. I can control _my _venom. It won't hurt; I promise." He whispered. With that he moved his mouth slowly to mine and started kissing me. I started crying as I tried to push him off me. I vaguely felt myself being striped and moved to the center of the bed. My mind had gone on lockdown, to protect me from the coming hurt, I presumed. Only then did I drift thankfully into the pain-free protection of unconsiousness.

**Just to let you all know, I'm keeping this strickly T. I don't write stuff like that. Now, all of this will work out. Don't shun me because you all think that I'm hurting Bella on purpose. IT WILL ALL TURN OUT FOR THE BETTER!**

**Kendra**


	7. You Hurt My Sister

**Hi! Okay, is anybody else completely ecstatic that the first chapter of "Breaking Dawn" comes out tommorrow? I know I am! I probably won't be able to sleep tonight. That's how obsessed I am. It's quite sad, really. Anyway, here's chapter 7!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of the other wonderful books that SM had writen. I only own Ryan. :)**

**Enjoy!**

"Alice." I stated to myself. I could smell her approaching along with the rest of my family. I hadn't gotten very far; I guessed that she must have seen me, even though she didn't seem to see Ryan. I growled. _Ryan. _I knew he was no good, right from the start. I stopped, knowing that I was lying to myself. Ryan and I had been close friends since my new birth. That was almost a hundred year friendship; I wouldn't have thought that it could be broken so easily. And all over a stupid human.

A few moments later, my family came into view, with Alice in the front, running faster than I'd ever seen her run before. When she reached me, she didn't stop like the rest of them. She kept running right past me in the direction of Ryan's home. I knew how to get there; I'd been there before, many times. Carlisle stopped in front of me and put his hand on my shoulder. I shook it off. I was not in the mood for comforting. Esme paid to regard to my rude gesture towards Carlisle and she stepped forward and engulfed me in a huge hug. I didn't have the heart to push her away.

"Edward, it'll be okay. Alice saw that Bella will be okay." She mumbled in a motherly tone. I relaxed.

"_COME ON!" _Emmett thought. _"Stop hugging and MOVE!"_

"_Edward. That's my sister. We have to find her quickly before it's too late."_ Jasper thought, looking at me straight in the eye. I nodded, gently pushing Esme away. She moved and stepped back.

"Shall we run? Or get the cars?" Carlisle asked. I shook my head and turned, sprinting in the other direction, towards Bella. They followed me, since they hadn't the slightest idea of where it was. It could be confusing running through the dense forests at night without a scent to follow.

About five minutes later, we stopped at the front door of the cabin. Alice was waiting for us.

"We can't go in. There's blood." She said. I already knew that; I could smell it; and it infuriated me. He did _not _do what I thought he did.

"I think we can handle it." I said between clenched teeth. I had recently hunted and it wasn't totally overpowering me, yet.

"I'll have no problem." Carlisle agreed.

Esme shook her head in doubt. "I don't think I can handle it." She said.

"I can. I've been around her when she's bled before. The scent doesn't bother me." Jasper said. I could hear his thoughts and they were all centered on Ryan's death. I welcomed the feeling.

"I. Can't." Rosalie said, strained. She wasn't breathing. She turned to Carlisle and he nodded. She ran to the opposite side of the small clearing surrounding the house.

"I don't want to take the chance." Emmett said, following after Rosalie.

Alice nodded. "I know I can't. If I were to go in, I saw tragedy. Guess only you three can handle it." She walked over to Rosalie and Emmett with Esme.

"Come." Carlisle said softly, walking towards the door.

"Gladly." Jasper snarled. He was sending out waves of anger. It definitely wasn't helping the situation a bit.

I followed them inside and saw what I had feared; Ryan was lying next to Bella on an enormous bed with his back to us. He must not have heard us enter. So much for superhuman hearing. The sight that concerned me the most was Bella. She was laying in an unnatural position with the covers up to her neck. But the worst was the pool of blood that had soaked through the sheets at the bottom. Jasper roared at the sight of his crumpled sister and launched himself at Ryan.

He turned his head slowly as Jasper jumped. He smiled and within a second, he was off of the bed and on top of Jasper. He cried out in pain; Ryan was twisting his leg upside down. I ran to his aid, flinging him off of Jasper and against the wall. Carlisle raced to my side and put his hand to Ryan's throat. He smacked him with his other hand. This surprised me; Carlisle was normally a non-violent man. His behavior was drastically different. It was probably from the waves of livid anger rolling off Jasper; his eyes were wide and vicious. It was disturbing to see on his normally calm face.

I turned my attention back to Ryan. He was squirming under Carlisle's strong hold on his neck.

"What did you do to her!" Jasper screamed, running forward and punching him in the face. Ryan screamed in pain before his face smoothed.

"What do you think?" He asked sarcastically. That was enough to set me off. I kicked him in the gut and sent him flying through the wall. Carlisle flew with him, since his hand was still holding on to his throat. As soon as we were outside, away from the blood, Rosalie, Alice, Esme, and Emmett rushed to our aid. Emmett planted his foot right on Ryan's chest and leaned all his weight on it; I heard Ryan exhale in a fast gust from the impact. I smiled at his pain.

"Answer me!" Jasper commanded from above his head. Ryan just smirked stupidly. Rosalie roared and threw herself at him, biting down hard on his arm. He screamed. Carlisle held out his hand. She growled, but stayed put, not breathing.

"_I'll kill him, I swear I will! He did the same thing to Bella that happened to me! He has to die!"_ She thought viciously. I turned to her and smiled. She glared back at me. I knew her hatred wasn't directed towards me personally. It was focused primarily at Ryan, and Royce, her ex-fiancée.

Carlisle looked at me out of the corner of his eye. _"Do you think you can handle this? I want to go check on Bella." _I nodded. With that, he strode swiftly to the cabin.

Jasper bent down so that his face was dangerously close to Ryan's as he whispered menacingly. "You hurt my sister. Now, I'm going to hurt you." In a blindingly fast movement, he sent Ryan flying from a powerful kick at his head. In an instant, he was next to him again as he punched him straight in the jaw. He flew ten feet in the air and then fell on his knees. He glared at Jasper, and Jasper glared right back.

Just then, I heard a scream. It was Bella. We all turned to see her looking out the window, pale and frightened. While we were distracted, Ryan snuck up behind Jasper and before I could shout a warning, he threw a punch at his head. Jasper fell to the ground, and when he didn't move, Ryan raced away, into the forest. Rosalie snarled in fury and took off full speed after him. I followed suit along with Emmett. Alice and Esme were heading back to the cabin to help with Bella. I hoped she was okay, and I also hoped that Ryan wouldn't get away from me again. The one advantage I had this time, though, was a way to corner him: three full grown vampires.

**So? Was it awesome or what? This chapter is devoted to my friend Laura, who, although thinks I'm a crazy person, talks with me when I need to talk to someone about my writing. And, thanks to MrsSarahCullen858, who will most likely help me continue this story, and I hers.**

**Please R&R! My reviews are dropping drastically!**

**Kendra**


	8. Back Pain

**Hi again! Okay. The poll is still open, so if any last minute voters are gonna' vote, do it now! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. -sigh-**

**And now I give you, chapter 8!**

I sat up quickly, suddenly remembering the events prior to my unconsciousness. The Cullen's and Jasper, my own brother, were vampires, the small cabin, the horrible king-sized bed, Ryan. I tore my mind away from these thoughts and scanned my eyes around the room. I was in the same cabin as earlier.

My eyes came to rest on a very small fire in the far corner of the house. I didn't remember it being there before.

"Bella." A soft voice said from beside me. I turned in fright, expecting to see Ryan. It was Carlisle. I meant to scream, but my voice caught in my throat. He was a vampire; I was going to die. Although I wasn't quite sure that Carlisle was here to kill me, my mind continuously repeated this to me.

"_I'm gonna' die. I'm gonna' die. I'm gonna' die. I lucked out before, but now I'm gonna' die." _I thought.

"Bella," Carlisle said, reaching out and placing his hand on my forehead. It was unnaturally cold; I must have a fever. "Your temperature is even. Are you feeling alright?" My temperature was _even? _Wow. Then his hands must be extremely cold.

I still couldn't speak. The little voice in the back of my head kept telling me that I was going to die. I nodded stiffly.

"Okay. Now, I'm going to have to take your pulse." He took my arm gently and placed two fingers on the bottom of my wrist. The fear that had settled in the pit of my stomach slowly vanished. I couldn't imagine Carlisle killing me; he was too kind. I always hated how some doctors took your pulse; they push hard on your vein and hold it there for what seems like forever. Carlisle wasn't like that. His fingers applied the least amount of pressure, and he was done within twenty seconds. He nodded, satisfied and smiled at me.

"You're sure your feeling normal? No pain?" He asked, seeming concerned. When he mentioned pain, I had to agree. I felt sore all over and I was sure that I had bruises everywhere.

"Yes, actually. I kind of do feel sore. My back really hurts." I said, feeling a burning ache in the center of my back.

"Roll over, please." He said. I complied and when I was resting on my stomach, Carlisle began inspecting my back. Every few seconds he would mumbled an "Ah" or and "Okay". In a minute or two, he rolled me back on my back and I felt a searing pain in the movement. He apologized and I nodded weakly; I was beginning to feel tired.

I yawned hugely and he laughed. "You should probably sleep. I'll try and find you some new sheets." Carlisle said.

"New sheets…?" I asked, looking down. I gasped as I realized I was naked. I flushed, but Carlisle didn't seem to mind. He was busy searching around the small house. He settled for a blanket and draped it across me.

"Thanks." I mumbled, already falling asleep.

"Anytime." He replied, chuckling. I was almost asleep when I heard a growl. At first I thought it was just a bear, but when Carlisle moved outside, I thought otherwise. I was going to get up, but my legs were like steel. I continued to lay on the bed, slowly drifting asleep.

I sat up when I heard a terrifying growl. It couldn't be a bear; it was too loud for that. I gathered the blanket around me and walked to the window. What I saw was horrifying. Jasper was kicking Ryan, and Ryan flew away from him, farther that I would have thought possible. This was not what concerned me most, though. I was happy with Jasper beating up that sicko. But what did concern me was seeing my brother move in the same blindingly fast way that Ryan and Edward had. It confirmed what I had been trying to deny. Jasper was a vampire, and so were the rest of the Cullen's.

Just as Jasper punched Ryan and sent him flying into the air, Carlisle came to stand next to me. I looked at him in terror. He looked at me sympathetically. I looked back out the window as Ryan hit the ground; it shook underneath my feet. I screamed, finally finding my voice. They all turned to stare at me, but I couldn't care less. Everyone I knew in Forks; except for Charlie, and I let that fact comfort me; was a vampire.

I felt myself visibly pale as I saw Ryan walk slowly towards my brother. Even though I felt betrayed, I didn't want Jasper hurt. I would never wish him pain. I was about to cry out in warning, but I was too late; Jasper was on the ground, unmoving. When he didn't move, I felt myself begin to cry.

"Jasper." I whispered helplessly.

"He'll be alright." Carlisle comforted from beside me. He led me back to the bed and told me to sit. I did as I was told and began to cry harder still.

A few moments later, Alice and Esme walked in and Esme gathered me in a hug. I welcomed it gratefully, although I was still deathly afraid of her. I finally tired of crying and fell asleep in her stone cold arms.

**Okay. I promise to add Jacob soon. So did anyone read the first chapter of "Breaking Dawn"? Tell me what you thought! I was disapointed... :(**

**Kendra**


	9. Here's to you!

**OMG! I just realized! I am a terrible person! All of you wonderful reviewers aren't getting recognized! So, today, I give you: REVIEWERS APPRECIATION PAGE! (I will have another chapter up tommorrow, most likely. I wanted to do this first.)**

**So, a special thanks to:**

**Maddie**

**edwardsgirl77**

**MrsSarahCullen858**

**y81292**

**Bella-and-Edward-forever22**

**thenotoriousSPORK**

**tsurimi**

**bookworm64**

**Gretta99**

**dancing jordan**

**Edward-luvs-moi**

**Becky94**

**yahtzeegirl**

**CourtneyFirehand**

**carotwilight08**

**P0llyB00Cullen**

**bellafan4ever**

**Minx Hijinks**

**abbey123**

**leslieluv**

**momma2three**

**CullenHaleLuver94**

**NightglowsTwilight**

**Raven-23-Mayra**

**Thanks for reviewing! You guys ROCK! And, guess what? You all make my day! I only got, like, 2 flames! Wow! You guys are all so supportive of my writing! I'll get a chapter up tommorrow! Promise! I'm moving so it's hard to get to my laptop, but I will!**

**Kendra**


	10. Remembering

**Hi! So, am I the only one who realized that "Tasered" isn't a word in the first chapter of "Breaking Dawn"? My dad works for Taser and I saw it and showed to to my dad and he said that his boss's daughter had seen that, too and that they were going to send a letter to SM about it. So next time you say "Tasered", think again. It. Is. Not. A. Word. You. Will. Recieve. A. Letter. If. It. Is. Reported. -fuming- (I support Taser with a passion. Get over it.)**

**Okay. I'll stop ranting. Here's chapter 9!**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own it!! :)**

I ran forward, gaining position over Rosalie and Emmett. I bit down on my tongue as I forced myself to slow for them. When they were both running beside me, I began giving orders.

"Rosalie, head east and block him there. You," I said, pointing to Emmett, still running, "Head west and keep him enclosed here."

While I was speaking, I heard Alice. _"I'm coming, too. You need a forth person and I'm coming to help." _She thought.

"I'll come from around the front, and Alice is on her way. She will close in from behind." I continued. They nodded simultaneously and sprinted in opposite directions, away from me. Not ten seconds later, Alice came up from behind me.

"Okay. I heard you, although I'm not sure if Ryan did. Even so, there is really nothing he can do. I'll close in from behind. Jasper is speaking with Bella; she's awfully frightened. Ryan told her. She wouldn't even speak to _me._" She said, hurt. I quit running and stopped to hook my arm over her shoulder.

"I'll be fine." I comforted her. "She'll come around." I wasn't necessarily surprised that Ryan had exposed us. It did make it easier for me to have to keep well on my promise of explaining our eyes. Hopefully, she would be alright with what we were, once she understood that we wouldn't harm her, that we weren't a danger to her.

Alice smiled slightly. "Go. We have to catch up with him. Rose and Emmett are already in position. Run west and head south. At your speed, if you leave now, you will be a good mile in front of him. Unless he decides to alter his course. Then, listen for directions." She instructed, pushing me away, in the direction that I was to go. I smiled and took off, running full speed. I was looking forward to killing Ryan. He couldn't get away.

Five minutes later, I came to the exact spot that I saw in Alice's head. I stood in between two gigantic oak trees, admiring their height. Not too soon after I arrived, I heeded Ryan's approach. I crouched, ready to attack. I still couldn't hear his mind, but I could still outwit him easily.

He appeared about three yards away from me, behind a large evergreen. I didn't seem to see me. I slowly moved so that I was positioned directly behind him.

"Ryan…" I hissed. He jumped and spun around to face me. He really _didn't _hear my approach. He was seriously a deaf vampire. I smirked.

"Hello Edward." He said sourly. "Frustrated with me, yet?"

Frustrated? Hmm. "Perhaps." I stated.

"Really? 'Perhaps'? I figured you'd be angry enough to kill me." He said mockingly.

I nodded. "Oh, yes. Definitely enough to kill you."

He shook his head in fake sympathy. "Well, that this will be a disappointment to you." With that, he opened his mind. Thoughts of Bella flooded into my head; crumpled, bleeding, and in pain. I cried out, falling to my knees. This hurt worse that any physical pain that anyone could inflict on me. Bella, my Bella, had been damaged.

Instantly, those images were replaced by Bella's soft, wounded voice. "I noticed that. Why were you moving so fast? Even Edward…" I felt a pang of hurt as she said my name. She had realized that I had lied to her, and it hurt her.

Ryan stood above me, laughing evilly. The image shifted to a worse one, one of Bella and Ryan. She was storming to the door, away from Ryan, when he stepped in front of her.

"Where do you think your going? We weren't through here yet." He said as he pushed her pack forcefully onto the bed. Her face was locked in an expression of shock, and premonition. I could hear her blood pumping quickly, just as Ryan had.

I vaguely wondered where the others were and why they hadn't showed up to help.

Ryan smiled from above me as the memory continued. He pounced on top of Bella and she let out a gust of air.

"You smell wonderful." He said menacingly from above her, lowering his nose to her collarbone to inhale. I smelt what he smelled, but she smelled different to him that to me. Still mouthwatering, but not as potent. I tried to block Ryan's thoughts as the horrid images continued, still.

Bella screamed in fright and I stood, launching myself at Ryan for causing her this terror. He sidestepped me easily and I collapsed in the forest floor next to him. He laughed again wickedly and seemed to be yelling his thoughts at me now.

"_Had enough, Edward? Or shall I continue?" _He taunted. Without waiting for an answer, even if I was able to speak, he continued.

He stopped her screaming by placing his hand over her mouth. "Aw! Don't be like that. I can control _my _venom. It won't hurt; I promise." With that, he closed his lips over hers. I screamed out in fury. I didn't want to see this; it was killing me. While he was kissing Bella, she tried unsuccessfully to push him off her as she started crying.

Just as I was on the verge of snapping, I glanced and saw Emmett running towards me, obviously surprised by my appearance.

"_Edward!"_ He thought. _"What is he doing to you?!"_

I shook my head, laying it down in the grass. I heard as Emmett and Rosalie, who had just arrived, ran forward toward Ryan. He never stopped reliving his encounter with Bella. He was moving her to the center of the large, purple bed and pushed her unresponsive lips open. I knew that if I didn't pull it together and attack Ryan, he would get away from Rose and Emmett, and possibly Alice. He was faster than all of them, even me, but I was the only one who could conceivably keep up with him.

Just then, I heard Ryan scream and I saw Rosalie jump on him and bite his neck, ripping off a good portion of his throat. He flung her off of him and ran in the other direction, away from where Alice was positioned. Emmett raced after him, but quickly fell behind, as did Rose.

I was relived as Ryan's thoughts disappeared with him and I was able to sit up. Alice ran through the trees and toward me.

"Edward! Oh my God! I saw this, but I had to get Rosalie and Emmett! I didn't make it in enough time! I saw what he showed you. Are you alright?" She shot off in the direction Ryan had gone, without waiting for an answer. I was okay with being alone right now. My mind was dirty from Ryan and I was still in pain. He had been right; I couldn't kill him. Not now that he knew how to immobile me so easily, at anytime, when the act did nothing but bring him pleasure. I could feel it coming off of him, rolling excitement and happiness. I couldn't grasp why that would make him happy, but the only thing that I could come up with was the fact that he was a sick person who enjoyed others' pain. It was ailing.

I stood unsteadily and decided that I would head back to Bella and check on her. I knew that I would never catch up with Ryan and that it was best if I didn't. He could just think of Bella again and I wouldn't be able to follow him any more. It was best to leave that to the others and not be a third wheel. Well, a fourth wheel, really, but the expression still applied.

I sprinted back to the cabin and made it back in record time. I slowed and opened the door hesitantly. Bella was sitting on the bed, wrapped in a blanket, crying. It broke my heart to see her like that.

"_She just woke up."_ Esme thought, full of concern. I nodded in return and strode gradually to Bella's side. I sat beside her and she looked up at me, her eyes full of shame. I wanted so badly to comfort her, and when I put my hand on her arm, she flinched at my cold touch. I pulled back my arm as if I had been electrocuted, and placed my hand on my lap. Now she would never be able to trust me. I hadn't kept her safe, and I'd failed to come to her rescue before. I'd failed to capture Ryan, and my attempts to comfort her were futile. These facts crushed me and I was sure Jasper could feel it from his seat on the small couch. He sent a wave of contentment to me, but I glared at him, wanting to wallow in my misery.

"_Sorry, Edward, but don't you think it will help Bella?" _He thought. I sighed and nodded, realizing that Bella would welcome the calm with open arms after what she'd been through today. She needed to feel safe, and I vowed that from this day forth, I would make her safe, and she would feel comfortable and secure with me, knowing how I felt, and her returning the feeling. I would make it happen. I would not fail her again.

**Okay. R&R! I'm becoming lonely! I don't think that you all love my story as much as I thought! I've had 2420 hits so far and only 42 reviews! Please let me know if you love it, or hate it! I love constructive crisism! **

**Kendra**


	11. Blocking

**Hi again! Now, I am extremely thankful to those of you who reviewed, so I'm going to give some names!**

**Thanks again to Edward-luvs-moi, uemialice, twilightre-write, VansessaHW, Raven-23-Mayra, twilight crazy micky, edwardsgirl77, CourtneyFirehand, Bella-and-Edward-forever22.**

**Sorry if I missed anyone! I'm trying to keep organized! You guys are all so AWESOME! I love it when I get reviews. They make me all warm and fuzzy inside! That sounds cheesey, doesn't it? Oh well. You all ROCK regardless.**

**Disclaimer: Still not mine.**

**And now, ladies and gentleman, (Wait, to guys really read my story? Tell me if your a guy and what you think. I only know one guy who has read "Twilight".), I give you... CHAPTER 10!! YAY!**

I shivered as cold air swept over me when someone opened the small brown door into my own personal prison. When I saw it was Edward, a whole new feeling of hate rushed through me. It was not similar to the inward hate that had been flowing through me, every thought, and every movement. No, this was an outward hate, a hate at someone in particular. _Him. _He had let this happen to me. He had not stopped me, or Ryan, and I doubted that he really even cared that I was scared for life from this tragic incident.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper staring at me. He looked angry himself. I sighed as I realized he must hate me, too. I was always getting in the way and now he couldn't go and live his precious secret life anymore; I was putting him on delay. My hate and anger shifted again and they were now centered around me. If _I_ hadn't been so stupid and stick my hand out the window, and if _I _hadn't wasted my time before being angry and not even _trying _to get away from Ryan, _I _wouldn't be in this situation. And neither would the Cullen's.

I felt a single tear roll down my cheek as Edward came to sit beside me on the cursed bed that held such a terrible memory. I looked up at him, full of internal shame. He just stared into my eyes and I looked away, feeling extremely self-conscious. He knew what had happened and he blamed me. When I turned my head, I felt his cold hand on my forearm. I flinched away, thinking of Ryan. When I glanced out of the corner of my eye, I saw that this movement had hurt him. I hadn't meant for that to happen; I was only reacting on impulse. I wanted to speak and explain myself, but when I opened my mouth, no sound came out. I had to look away from his rejected face and back at my own hands.

As I was gazing at my hands in remorse, a small red stain on the floor caught my eye. I gasped as I realized what it was. It was a dried pool of my blood. I felt myself shaking, but I wasn't sure why. Was Edward shaking me? I checked; no. Was the bed shaking? No. Only then did I realize I was crying. Immediately after I realized this, I felt calm. I couldn't be sad. I couldn't be angry with myself. I was only content and floating aimlessly through happiness.

This was wrong. I couldn't be _happy _at a time like this. I wanted to drown in my resentment of myself. I glared around the room, trying to find what was making me so deranged. I was surprised when I saw everyone had the same, goofy grins on they're faces as I did. Except for Edward. His face was in a cold mask, staring hatefully at Jasper. I was utterly confused when he sighed and nodded at him, resorting his facial expression to the same, misplaced grin. I should not be happy. I would not be happy. I was in a room full of vampires, wrapped in nothing but a blanket and freezing, and I had a sexual predator who was also a superhuman vampire that was after me, although he had already attacked me twice in the same encounter. I could feel that I was still bleeding; it hurt. I wondered why it didn't seem to bother any of them. I would have thought that they would be going crazy to have blood exposed like this. Edward was breathing normally from beside me, and Jasper the same from across the room, as was Carlisle. My gaze came to rest on Esme. I watched her intently, and I noticed that she wasn't breathing. I must have watched for over three minutes before my guilt of making her endure this broke through the false sense of blissful spirits in me.

"If it's bothering you, Esme, please don't suffer. I don't mind if you step outside." I said, feeling responsible for her stress. She looked up at me kindly and smiled as she ran to the door. Jasper stood and walked towards me. When he reached me, he lowered himself to my level and stared in my eyes, seeming to be concentrating very hard on some unknown factor. I blushed, amazed at myself for feeling embarrassed around my brother.

"Why is this not working?" He muttered under his breath. I immediately felt a wave of excitement flood through my senses. My heartbeat raced as I felt adrenaline kick in for no apparent reason. I began tapping my foot, but when I realized what I was doing, I stopped. I fought against the foreign feeling, until I blocked it altogether. Jasper swore softly and I felt a wave of sorrow rush through me. I started crying, and he seemed pleased by my reaction. I shoved away the silly tears; I wasn't going to cry like a baby when there was nothing to cry about. I edited my thoughts when I realized that there was plenty to cry about, but I was not a child. I forced myself to stop crying and I welcomed back my prior feeling of shame again.

I understood now that Jasper was doing these things to me, playing with my emotions. "Stop Jasper!" I hissed in his face. "Stop!" Edward turned to me and placed his hand on my shoulder again, although this time I did not flinch.

"Jasper, stop. She understands and you're driving us all crazy." He said calmly, although his voice rang with authority.

"You don't understand!" Jasper yelled, standing now. "She can _block _it! Of all the times I've done this, no one could _block _it! She's never done this before!" I cringed back at his loud voice and Edward glared at him. Carlisle came from behind Jasper and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Stop now." He commanded and Jasper relaxed. He turned and walked back to the couch, all the while staring at me, angered by me. I didn't even know what I had done. I started crying again. Jasper's expression quickly changed from anger, to remorse.

"Shh, Bella. It's okay. Its all fine." Edward comforted from beside me. I shook violently from my tears, and from the cold. He pulled the blanket tighter around me and pulled me on his lap. His hand rested on my head, holding me to his chest. The gesture was nice, although his cold skin did little to warm me. I cried into his shirt and eventually fell asleep in his stone arms.

**SoOoOoOoO?! You guys likey that Bella can block the emotion control stuff?? I thought it was cool. BTW- Am I the only one who freaks out at PG movies?! I went to the movies with my friends last night to see Prince Caspian, and I was all covering my eyes and looking away. My friends couldn't stop laughing. I think we ruined the movie for some people, but come on! Its not my fault that I scare easy! Is it? Tell me people getting edcapatated doesn't bother you nad then we'll talk.**

**Don't mock me for that!**

**Kendra**


	12. Powers

**Hi again! This chapter took me _forever _since my mom took my computer away. (Totally _my _fault, so blame me. xp) Uh, yeah. Sorry if this chapter is kind of short, but it was all of 6 pages on Word, so I tried!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own "Twilight". I wish I did, but, sadly, I do not.**

**Oh, and thanks for the reviews! I had no idea that normal guys read "Twilight", because the guy who I know that read it, is definatly not normal. xp**

**Enjoy!**

I smiled to myself as Bella curled up in my arms. I didn't understand why she warmed up to me so quickly, but honestly, I couldn't care less. While she slept, I though. I thought about how she seemed to be immune to my mind reading, and how now she had been able to fight off Jasper's gift also. She was truly a work of art.

I felt happiness swell inside me, until it was almost immediately ripped away by Jasper and replaced by a desolate feeling.

"_Why be happy?" _He sneered. _"I'm not in the mood, so why should you?"_ I stared at him, tightening my grip on Bella and I felt her sink deeper into my chest, if that was at all possible.

I inhaled, still not affected by her blood. All I could seem to smell was her blood, but it didn't seem to bother me. I guessed that I should hunt wolves more often; they seemed to sedate my thirst the best, since that was what I hunted this morning. Plus, there was an extreme overpopulation at the moment and it was good for us to help civilization to the extent of our abilities, so we helped keep the ecosystem in check.

"Edward…" Bella murmured. I looked down, expecting her to be awake, but she only shifted in my arms, sighing. I smiled, and Jasper did, too. He stopped sending me a feeling of sadness and helped create a warm feeling in the room.

A few moments later, Jasper stiffened at the same moment as Bella. He sat relatively still, but she began to thrash in my arms, crying now.

"Carlisle!" I whispered urgently. "What's wrong with her?!" He came to stand in front of the bed.

"She's dreaming. Most likely reliving the events that have happened today." He turned to Jasper. "I think you should step out. This may be hard on your emotions. I'm going to run back to the house and grab some new blankets for Bella. Can you handle her?"

"Yes. She'll be fine." I said.

"But will _you _be fine?"

"Yes."

"Alright. I will be back soon. Come, Jasper." He dismissed.

Jasper nodded at Bella. _"Keep her safe, please. I can't imagine that anything will happen, but I'm trusting that you will keep her out of harm's way."_ I smiled and he nodded again, walking out the door with Carlisle.

Bella continued to move in my arms, every so often letting out a soft whimper between her muffled cries. I rubbed her back, trying to calm her, although it seemed to do little.

I laid back on the bed, which was now stripped free of any blood, and rested Bella on my chest. She was still crying and I wiped away her tears with my fingertips. It broke my heart to see her like this. I continuously rubbed soothing circles in her back and wiped her tears.

She was crying harder now, and I had little idea what to do. I continued to shush her and tell her it was alright, even though I knew she couldn't hear me. Awhile later, she screamed out.

"Help…please. No…" She trailed off, leaving me shocked. She _was _reliving what had happened earlier. I wanted to wake her up, to keep her from having to dream these things, but I knew that eventually she was going to have to think about it. She had to heal, and I could help when she was awake, but she was sure to have nightmares for awhile after what had happened.

She screamed again. "Jasper! Edward! Oh my God, Ryan, please. Just let me go! ALICE!"

She had been crying out for help. She must have been awake for some of what had happened. The only things that I had seen from Ryan were when she was passed out, and protected from the pain. I growled.

I rolled on my side and gathered Bella into a hug, pulling the blanket tighter, still around her. She must be _freezing. _I rubbed my hand briskly across her arm, trying to warm her; it probably just chafed her skin.

I decided to wake her up; it was hurting me too much to have to see her like this. I gently nudged her shoulder. She didn't move.

"Bella," I whispered in her ear. "It's time to wake up." Her eyes fluttered open frantically. She sighed in relief when she saw me.

I smiled when she yawned. I felt her shiver next to me and I pulled away, not wanting to make her colder. She frowned at me and moved closer to me. I smiled hugely and wrapped my arm around her waist.

"Are you feeling okay?" I asked after a moment.

"Yes." Bella said, sighing. "Where are Jasper and Carlisle?"

"Carlisle went to try and find out some more sheets and a blanket." I said, looking down and the now ruined sheets. She blushed. "And you were dreaming, so Jasper had to step out."

She looked confused. "Why?" I had forgotten that she didn't know that emotions affected Jasper. She only realized that he was doing something to her feelings.

I sighed. "Jasper, like a few of us, has a power." I looked at her skeptically, but her face stayed calm. I continued. "He can feel, and control, emotions. That's why he was doing that to you earlier, making you fell excited and such." She nodded.

"You said that a few of you have a power. Who?" She asked. She caught everything. I was tempted to lie, but I didn't want to upset her.

"Like Alice and I." I responded, careful not to give away any information unless she asked directly.

She frowned at my attempt to avoid her question. "And that power would be…?"

I sighed. "Let's take Alice. She can see some parts of the future."

"Oh, like a physic." She stated. I nodded.

"Yes. And I can hear some people's thoughts; all but _one._" I said.

"Who can't you hear?" She asked, not seeming concerned with this news.

"You." I said simply. Her mouth popped open and I grinned.

"M-mm-me?" She asked. I nodded. "Why can't you hear me?"

That was a question that even _I _didn't know the answer to. "I don't know." I whispered. She shrugged and took my hand, drawing pictures on the back of it. I tightened my arm around her waist. She was handling the situation better than I thought she would.

"Doesn't that scare you? Disturb you?" I asked after a few moments of silence.

"No. Not really. I kind of used up my fair share shock today. I really couldn't care less anymore. It's all crazy anyway." She said. I pulled away from her; her eyes flashed hurt.

"Why? Why doesn't that _bother _you?" I nearly shouted. She recoiled from the intensity of my voice.

"It just doesn't matter. Jasper is like you, too you know. I have to except that my own _brother _is a _vampire, _not just you and your family. And then I have to find out that he's not _my _brother, but _yours._" Throughout her speech, her voice rose steadily from a whisper to yelling. I hadn't thought that she had to deal with all this hitting her; it must be tough since she just had to deal with Ryan and such, and all this was thrown at her at the same time.

I looked up at her face since now she was above me, sitting up as her voice rose. "I'm sorry. I realize that it's a lot to take in." I said sincerely. She sunk back down to lay next to me, and her expression softened. I slowly wrapped my arm back around her waist and smiled at her. I wondered where Carlisle was; he should be back by now; I voiced my thoughts. As soon as I said this, Carlisle walked in.

"Speak of the devil." I muttered under my breath. Bella giggled softly.

"Here you go, Bella." Carlisle said, handing Bella a new pair of pajamas and an orange blanket. "You can change in here, we'll walk outside." He gestured towards me. I nodded and released her, standing up.

She kept my hand. "It's okay," She said to me, since Carlisle had already left. "You can stay." She blushed, but I nodded, sitting back down. She grinned shyly at me and I couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. Her hair was a gorgeous mahogany, long and flowing all the way down to the small of her back, and her eyes were a deep chocolate brown, which seemed to have an endless depth to them.

She turned to face me after she gathered the pajamas and held up her index finger, telling me to stay where I was. I nodded, smiling. Bella walked to the opposite side of the bed and let down the canopy's curtain.

"Don't look." She called from behind the drape.

I laughed. "I wont." I was still amazed that she seemed okay with the situation; I hoped that my presence was what was helping. Or perhaps it was the amount of sleep she had had, which was making her less tired and cranky, and more cheerful. That was a silly explanation on my part, but since I didn't sleep, I had little idea about what may be making her feel better.

While I was thinking, Bella finished dressing and came back to sit beside me. She took my hand I leaned back to rest my head on a pillow; she did the same. Every time she touched me I felt a shock run through me; it was extremely pleasant. She curled up in my chest and me lay like that for what seemed like forever, until Emmett barged in, carrying Rosalie and Alice, thinking, _"Run."_

**OK! So did you like it?! I liked it, although most of it was just fluff. So, my new goal is to reach 100 reviews. Is that so hard for all you guys? I have, like 4068 hits and 60 something reviews. Why aren't you all reviewing?! -cries- Don't you all love my story? I really hope so, since I'm working extremely hard on it. **

**A/N: I am leaving on vacation for 2 weeks on Tuesday. I may or may not be able to update. So I am going to work my butt off to get a bunch of chapters writen so I can quickly get to a computer when I'm on vacation and post one of my documents. Does that sound good? I'm trying!**

**Kendra**


	13. Fear

**Hi guys. I'm sorry this is so short, but I'm still on vacation and I got up really early to try and get on a computer. I promise I'll be updated more soon, since I get home on the 25th. I'll have more time, I swear! **

**Disclaimer: I still don't own "Twilight" or any of the characters, except for Ryan.**

**And now I give you the greatly anticipated... CHAPTER 12!!**

I jumped as Emmett barged into the small hut. Edward and I had been having a _personal _moment, and obviously Emmett thought that whatever he was going to say was more important.

I gasped as, in a too-fast movement, I was slung from my place on Edward's chest and placed on the floor. It was only then that I noted Rosalie and Alice in Emmett's arms. They were crumpled and the clothes were torn; they weren't even breathing.

"_Oh my God!"_ I thought to myself. _"They're dead!"_

Edward placed his hand on my cheek and turned my face so I was looking at him.

"We have to move." He whispered urgently. I could feel the fear of in my eyes; I wanted to know what we had to move from, but I couldn't find my voice to ask. After seeing what Jasper and Ryan could do, I was terrified of how Alice and Rosalie got to this state, since obviously they were capable of the same thing.

I merely nodded at Edward and he bent down, signaling for me to climb onto his back. My heart pounded in my chest, but I complied, thinking only of how kind Edward had been to me today, and the fact that I knew he would never hurt me; at least in the same way that Ryan had. I had stopped bleeding, and I knew that no one would ever be able to hurt me in the same intensity as he had.

Before I knew it, we outside of the cabin, and racing alongside of Emmett, who had lightened his load by allowing Carlisle to carry Alice, Jasper, who was running directly next to Carlisle, coaxing Alice out of his arms, and Esme, who was starring behind us, into the trees, looking frightened at whatever she saw there.

I heard a roar as Edward tensed under me. It was not the same sound that I had heard before from Jasper and Rosalie; no, this was different. Less terrifying, in a way, but still enough to make my skin crawl. It seemed to have the same reaction out of the rest of the Cullen's. Esme's head whipped around to Edward's face, pure panic painted plainly on her face. Edward's head nodded and he stopped running, as did Esme and Carlisle, who had released Alice to Jasper.

Edward shifted me off his shoulders and handed me to Esme; I was mildly surprised she could support my 110 pound weight without seeming to exert more effort than lifting a stuffed animal.

"Esme. Take Bella back to the house and stay there with her. Send Emmett and Jasper. We will need them. Carlisle will stay with me and we will try to keep them calmed down long enough to give Jasper time to get here." Now I was utterly confused. Who was coming? They all seemed scared, but what other than Ryan could hurt them? Plus, if it was Ryan, he was outnumbered: by three. He couldn't take them all, could he?

Before I could ask, Edward stepped forward and brushed his long, cold fingers across my face. He looked up at Esme.

"Keep her safe." He whispered. I felt her nod from above me as she raced off in the other direction.

**I wonder if any of you can guess what's coming. I think I made it pretty obvious. Send me your guesses! Or if you have any ideas, any at all, I will read them over and consider them. Oh, and I need a name for a girl and a boy. I need suggestions! (I can't tell you who the names are for! Just give me some suggestions!)**

**Kendra**


	14. The Pack

**Hola! So guess what? I'M HOME! But Ihave some bad news. We don't have internet. cries But my dad had this funky cartridge thing that you plug in the computer that gives you internet! :p But yet again, bad news. It only works on his work computer. cries again So...he let me post this _one _chapter. I tried to make it kinda' long. Hope you don't hate me! :p**

**Disclaimer: Still not mine. I do own Ryan, though. Don't steal him, please!**

What was wrong with me? I was actually _feeling _something for this human! I wanted to just forget about her, but I couldn't. I was trying to focus on the situation at hand. Nevertheless, my mind would always travel to her; she was going to be the death of me. Literally. If I couldn't get her out of my head with my senseless worrying, I was going to keep getting distracted. And with the threat that we were facing, that was definitely _not _a favorable option.

"_They are getting nearer." _Carlisle thought calmly. I felt my breathing accelerate. I could smell them as well, and Jasper and Emmett were nowhere to be seen. If they didn't show up soon, we were dead; in all senses of the word.

I began thinking of attack strategies. I had never encountered this situation before, and I only had so much to go off of. If Jasper were here, it would help tremendously. He was an excellent fighter, and if that's what this situation resorted to, he would know what to do.

But Jasper _wasn't _here, and I had to work with what _I _knew. If I survived this, I was going to make Jasper teach me everything he knew.

"_We can only hope they are not angry. Although they may be, considering the circumstances." _Carlisle thought, inclining his head slightly north. They were here. I could see them clearly now. I growled, low and short, wrinkling my nose. They smelled worse than I remembered; musty, moldy, and wet. Nothing like Bella…She was sweet and floral. I shook my head. No, I had to concentrate.

Now. We attack from the side, ducking down, under the arm. Avoid the teeth.

"That's a no-brainer…" I thought to myself. "Carlisle." I said out loud. "Just talk to them, calmly. We don't want a fight. At least until Emmett and Jasper show up." I muttered, too low for the approaching shapes to hear. Carlisle nodded and turned his attention to the shaggy silhouettes in the clearing. They had halted their advance, choosing safety in distance, not numbers.

"_When I get those filthy bloodsuckers, they're gonna' wish they never crossed our land." _The big sandy colored dog thought viciously. I snickered. Crossed _their _land? Yeah, right. It was obviously no man's territory.

"_The treaty is broken." _A massive black wolf thought sadly. _"The poor human. I would have thought that they would clean up better, though; there was blood stained on the mattress. I supposed they did try though. The ashes in the corner were fresh, and still warm." _I felt my eyes pop open. They thought that _we _killed a human. They say the hut, and the blood that we forgot. They thought that we broke the treaty and killed a human. Just one more reason to add to my list of reasons to kill Ryan.

I was startled when I heard a thundering sound. It took me a second before I realized that it was only one of the packs' thoughts; it was screaming. Not many people screamed in their thoughts. But then again, these weren't people; they were animals. Uncivilized animals. I growled again, a continuous sound, long and throaty.

"Gentlemen." Carlisle greeted cautiously. I chuckled inwardly at his loose use of the word "_gentlemen_". The large black one nodded his giant head towards him, his eyes never leaving me. His eyes were wary as they took in my defensive position, crouched and tense. Ready for a fight. I tried to loosen my position, but failed with little progress.

"May we help you? I do believe we are on our side of the boundary." Carlisle continued.

"_We are aware of the treaty, leech. Although, you, obviously, are not." _The black wolf thought lividly. I now recognized him as the pack's leader. I relayed his thought back to Carlisle, but with less intensity. His expression shifted from calm, to utterly confused.

"We are aware. What makes you think us not?" Carlisle countered, still pleasant.

"_Liar! We have seen the evidence for ourselves! All of us! And yet here you stand, mocking us with your naïve speech! Have you not drank from a human? Or will you sit and continue to feed us lies through your vile mouth?" _In any other circumstances, this rant would have made me laugh. It sounded oddly old-fashioned, and more like something from my era. Again I translated for Carlisle, and now he appeared offended.

"What evidence have you seen? I can assure you that this is not our doing." He stated, his voice breaking through his calm façade.

The alpha howled in frustration. _"The cabin, you fool! You burned most of the evidence, but we still found what you missed! The mattress. Some clean up crew you bloodsuckers are!" _He mocked. _"Never mind this nonsense. It is war now. You have begun what we have tried to prevent. But our efforts are proven futile, now, as we stand here, knowing that you have begun the fight!"_ As I hurriedly quoted his thoughts to Carlisle, the pack lowered themselves to all four of their feet, crouching and matching my stance. Carlisle followed suit.

Just as was clinging onto my last threads of hope to survive, Jasper appeared at my side, followed by Emmett. I felt an overwhelming surge of tranquility spread through me, although I did not allow myself to lessen my position. The mutts would _not _catch me off guard.

Although I had had practice fending off Jasper's power, the wolves had not. They sunk down to lay on the ground, their anger fading.

"_What the heck...I want to fight! I'm supposed to be angry, not calm. Argh!" _The dark cherry red wolf thought.Way to be obvious, I thought.

"_Wow. I knew that one of those leeches could do this, although I've never experienced it first-hand. Interesting, but not helping the situation." _The leader pondered.

"_Sam!" _The white wolf thought. I froze when I realized her voice was _feminine._ It was a _girl!_ They weren't supposed to be able to change. _"Sam! What's happening?!" _She was breaking through Jasper's control. She must be fairly new, her emotions stronger and more prudent.

"_Relax, Leah. It's fine. How are you anxious?" _Sam, who I noted as the black wolf, replied.

"_How are you not? I felt calm, but now, I feel none." _She though back as she rose.

"_Leah! Do you not realized he can hear you? Any chance that we had of a sneak attack are gone." _The red wolf spoke. She threw a panicked glance to me, her eyes wild.

"_Leah. Change back." _Sam ordered.

"_WHAT?" _The whole pack thought in unison.

"_Change back." _He repeated. The two wolves stared each other down, and Leah ran off to the trees. A minute later she was back in a black T-shirt and short, pink shorts that I recognized as Sofees. She walked hesitantly to us, watching Emmett with frightened eyes.

"_Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap." _She thought continuously. Jasper stared her down, his face contorted in frustration, thinking nothing but, _"Another one? What now? Can __everyone__ resist my power?!"_. She continued walking, seemingly unaffected by Jasper. She came to a rest, surprisingly, in front of me.

"Your eyes aren't red. Neither are the other's. You did not kill this human?" She asked me skeptically.

"No. We kept good on our word. We would never start an avoidable war." I answered, flabbergasted that she even _approached _us.

She nodded. "I believe you. Please," She said, turning to Jasper full-on, "Stop. Its irritating." He seemed shocked that she had spoken to him, and his face fell as he only concentrated on the other wolves.

"Thank you." She said as he nodded, his mouth slightly open. "You may go; we will not follow. But if you ever do break the treaty, know that our numbers are growing. We will not back down if you do." I nodded, surprised at how much her courage had grown in the past fifteen seconds. She smiled slightly, and sprinted to the trees, followed by the rest of the pack. She hesitated at the edge of the forest of cast one last glance at Emmett, keeping her thoughts clear of any information by thinking of only the trees, and how different they smelled from when she was in wolf-form, and when she was in human-form. As she turned again, I caught a glimpse of a glittering half-circle on her upper right arm.

**Hehe...I love cliffys! Anyway, I will (hopefully) have internet by Thursday. I will try desperatly to get a chapter up then, so you don't all come and kill me in my sleep. (Don't get any ideas.) :p**

**Kendra**


	15. Awake

**Hi ya everyone! So I'm postin' another chapter! Can I get an "Oh Yeah!"? (Instert "Oh Yeah!" here.) So...**

**Disclaimer: Still not mine. Although I really wish I was SM. That would be cool, wouldn't it?**

**ENJOY!!**

"Esme? Are they going to be alright?" I asked nervously. We had arrived at her home in record time, and I was shocked at Alice and Rosalie's appearance. They were crumpled on the long, navy blue bed in Alice's room. Although their eyes were closed, they did not sleep; Esme had explained that to me. Since they were all "vampires" they couldn't sleep. I had a strange feeling that all of this was just a dream, that there was no such thing as vampire brothers and friends. How would Charlie take it? And Renée? I shivered.

"They will be fine. They heal extraordinarily fast. You should be worrying Carlisle and Edward. I do hope that Jasper and Emmett get there in time." She answered, pure anxiety clear in her voice.

"What exactly is the threat? What was Edward so nervous about?" I asked. I still couldn't comprehend why they should be frightened.

Esme sighed. "Have you heard of a, uh, _myth_ involving _werewolves?_" She asked.

I laughed once without humor. She couldn't be serious. "Yeah. What about it?"

"Werewolves were coming to meet us. That's why we left." She explained, watching my reaction as she shifted on the bed so I could sit beside her.

"So now there's _werewolves?_ What kind of cheap horror movie is this?" I asked, climbing onto the bed.

She shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid this isn't a horror movie, Bella; it's true. No matter how much we try to deny it, its reality."

I shrugged. I was taking this better than I would have thought. But hey, I was just gonna' wake up in the morning anyway, right?

"Bella...?" A soft voice came. I turned to see Alice with her eyes open.

"Alice! You're okay!" I said, standing up and walking to her side of the bed. She sat up slowly.

"Yes. How is Rose doing?" She asked, smiling slightly.

"She weak, but healing quickly." Esme said.

"That's good."

"You need to hunt. Your eyes are darker than normal."

"What?" I asked. "You can't leave when those werewolves are out. I thought we had to hide!"

Esme chuckled. "She's fine, as long as she stays on our side of the boundary."

"I think I will wait until Rose can come. I see she that she can hear us now, although she is still in tremendous pain. It will ease soon enough." Alice stated, speaking rapidly.

"Boundary?" I asked, one step behind.

"It's a sort of agreement we have with the wolves. They don't cross our land, awe don't cross theirs. We don't kill humans, they don't attack. It has worked out fairly well, until now." Alice answered.

"Oh. Is that why they were coming to meet Carlisle and Edward?" I asked Esme.

"Yes. Alice, do you-" Esme broke off mid-sentence. Alice had froze, her face locked in whatever expression it had been in before I had looked away; her eyes were distant and unfocused.

"Alice!" Esme screeched, at her side in an instant, grasping her hand. I knew what was happening, or at least I had a good guess. Alice was having some kind of physic vision thing. It would pass, just like it did in all the movies.

A few moments later, Alice's eyes refocused and she looked Esme in the eye.

"Jasper and Emmett have vanished. They must be close. I can see nothing from now on." Alice murmured. "We will just have to wait. Rosalie and I will leave to hunt in ten minutes. You should go and find Bella something to eat."

Esme nodded and grabbed my hand, pulling me down the stairs just as I caught a glimpse of Rosalie's torso rising to a sitting position.

When we reached the kitchen, Esme found me a bowl of Cheerios and milk.

"Why do you have food if no one eats?" I asked, intrigued.

She laughed. "I still love to cook. Sometimes we donate my dishes to shelters. I love to help unfortunate humans, and I feel that, by giving them a hot meal, I'm doing what little that I can for them." She grinned.

"Wow." I muttered, at a loss for words. "Uh, thanks for the food." I added quickly, not wanting to be rude. She just laughed again, taking a seat next to me. I really didn't feel like talking, and I _was _hungry, so I stuffed a spoonful in my mouth, chewing fiercely.

After I was finished, I stood to put my dish away. But when I reached down for it, it was gone, along with Esme, who was now standing at the sink, rinsing and drying my bowl.

"I can do that." I said, feeling like a moocher.

"No, no. I'm done already." She assured me, by my side again. I sighed.

"We're leaving now. Be back in an hour." Rosalie announced, descending the stairs.

"Okay. Hurry back." Esme said, hugging both her and Alice in turn.

"Bye." They said simotaniously as they ran out the back kitchen door.

After an awkward moment of silence, Esme spoke. "Would you like to watch a movie?" She asked.

"Uh, not really. Actually, I was wondering if maybe I could use your shower." I said, looking down at myself. I was _filthy_, and when I brushed my hand through my hair, it was sweaty and greasy.

"Oh." She said, taking in my appearance. "Sure. It's upstairs. You can use Edward's bathroom. I'll borrow some of Rosalie's clothes; I'm sure she won't mind. You look like you'd be her size. I'll leave them on Edward's bed."

"Thank you." I sighed, anticipating the warm water. It would be nice to be clean again. I walked sluggishly upstairs and went straight to Edward's bathroom. I turned the water on "Warm" and let it run for a few minutes until I stepped inside, letting the warm water calm me.

After I had rinsed off my hair, I dried off and walked out into Edward's room with a towel wrapped around me. Esme had kept good on her word; on the long, black couch was a light pink tank-top and a pair of black skinny jeans. I hurriedly changed into them and hung my towel on the back of the bathroom door. When I turned around, Edward was standing behind me, with a huge grin on his face.

**Are ya'll mad at me? Sorry it's kind of a filler. I've been tired lately. I'm only running on 3 hours of sleep right now. And guess what else? It hurts to type cuz my thumb nail is split, (OWWW!), and I'm sunburn so I can't smile, and I LOVE to smile. It's what I do. Even ask pearlxnecklace. She knows. And speaking of which, would ya'll hate me if she helped me write some chapters? Maybe we could do some contest where you could guess which chapters are mine, and which are hers. That would be fun, right? :) At least I can still smile on the computer! :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)**

**(Oh, and I almost forgot. This chapter is devoted to pearlxnecklace for agreeing to watch my cats while I'm in Flordia. Dont' worry, we're paying her! :p)**

**Kendra**


	16. Simon

**Hi again! So this is a _really _long one. I mean, for me. It was 12 pages on Word. Is everyone happy with me? :) I'm happy with me! :)**

**Disclaimer: Not mine! Simon and Ryan are mine, but thats all I can claim.**

**ENJOY!!**

I really felt like an idiot now. I should have knocked, although it _was _my bedroom. Now all I could do was smile dumbly. Bella seemed shocked that I had entered while she was here, and then she blushed.

"How long have you been standing there?" She asked. So that's where the blush came from…I quickly shook my head. She thought I had been watching her! Well, I was no peeping tom.

"I just walked in. Sorry I didn't knock, but I knew that you were dressed already." She visibly relaxed, but just as soon as she did, she tensed again.

"What it is?" I asked, anxious.

"The werewolves; what happened? Are you okay? Did Jasper make it in time? What about Emmett and Carlisle? Are they alright?" She was rushing to get all of her questions out as quickly as she could; it was kind of funny. I took a step forward and placed my hand on her cheek.

"We fine. It's all fine. Nothing happened. They just showed up to discuss some, er… terms." I thought Esme had explained this to her, but I wasn't going to say too much if she hadn't.

"About the treaty?" She asked. It was more of a statement than a question. I nodded. Esme had already explained; that was good. It saved me from having to.

Bella moved my hand from her face and gathered it in hers. She smiled slightly, in a way that suggested that she was still wary of this whole situation. I grinned back at her, trying to reassure her. She had nothing to fear, and I wanted her to know that. I would never hurt her, and neither would any other member of my family.

We walked out from my room and began the long descent down the stairs.

"So what's my story to Charlie? On my first day here I was kidnapped and then rescued by my vampire brother and his vampire family?" I was shocked at how easily she used the word. It had taken me three years until I was able to use it in casual conversation.

"I was kind of relying on Alice for that one. She's more creative." I said, still a trifle stunned. Bella sighed.

When we came to the bottom of the stairs, everyone was gathered in the living room. Alice moved to the end of the couch for Bella to sit, but I chose to stand, not wanting to make the couch more crammed. Bella, Esme, Alice and Rosalie, who had just returned from their hunting trip by the looks of it, now occupied the couch , and Jasper came to stand beside me, leaving Carlisle and Emmett on the small sofa on the left side of the room.

"We need to call Charlie; he was worried yesterday night when neither Bella nor I came home. Any ideas on what to tell him?" He asked. I shook my head.

"I think that perhaps we could conjure up another sleep over? Maybe we could say that we all wanted to go camping and just forgot to call him yesterday. Then when we remembered, we couldn't get a signal on our cell phones. If Esme calls and explains, I see that he will understand, since Jasper is gone "camping" so often anyway. And he will agree to let Bella stay another night; she's already unpacked and there's a big game on tonight. He wants the house empty for that." Alice said, visibly proud of herself.

"Well, if it works, it would be best for Bella to stay her for another night." Carlisle agreed. "We still have a lot to explain to her, that is, if she is open to listening."

"Would you like to stay another night? We all need to hunt if you do, so someone will have to stay with you while we are gone." Jasper asked, leaving the whole thing up to Bella, although I knew that he desperately wanted to stay. Secretly, I did, too. It would be nice to have her around for awhile longer.

"I don't want to be any trouble for you." She said quietly.

"Not at all, Bella! It would be fun if you stayed. We could do you make up and watch movies and everything!" Alice said enthusiastically. Bella's eyes widened; she obviously didn't care for Alice's definition of "fun".

"Just go easy on her. We don't want to scare her off." Emmett joked. Alice glared at him when he laughed.

"Really, Bella. It would be no trouble at all if you stayed." Esme said, smiling warmly at her. "I can make you dinner; the whole deal." Esme's voice was thoughtful as she thought about what to make for a dinner that only Bella would eat. I snickered.

"_This is going to be so much fun!" _Alice thought. _"I wonder if she wants to go shopping…"_ Poor Bella. I would have to do something to keep her away from Alice.

"Alright. But you really don't have to make me dinner. I can make myself something." Bella said self-consciously. I could see plainly on her face that she thought she was being a hassle. Esme's face fell ever so slightly.

"I mean, unless you really want to." She amended, and Esme smiled.

"You should probably call Charlie." Carlisle whispered to Esme after a moment of awkward silence.

"Oh. Alright, I go do that now." Esme stood and walked to the kitchen where the phone was. I could hear her explaining the fake camping trip to Charlie and he apparently believed it. Bella shifted uncomfortable from the couch, catching my attention. I went to sit beside her.

"So if Bella's staying, we need to hunt." Jasper said. "Just as a precaution." He verified, not wanting to scare Bella.

"We can go when Esme is off the phone. We won't be long." He said, turning to Bella. He continued when she nodded. "Alice, Rosalie, will you be needing to hunt again?"

"We did not go very far, and we fed little. It would be best if we came." Rosalie confirmed, speaking for the first time.

Carlisle nodded. "Edward?"

"I hunted earlier. I'm not thirsty." I replied, wanting only to stay with Bella. I felt better knowing that I would be able to speak to her alone, and maybe find out why mine, and Jasper's, power didn't work on her.

"_Are you sure?" _Carlisle thought to me. I paused, thinking. When she bled earlier, it didn't seem to bother me, but with her here alone…No. I wouldn't do that to Jasper. And I had promised that I would keep her safe. There was nothing wrong with me staying here with her alone. It was perfectly safe. I nodded slightly to him just as I heard Esme hang up the phone.

"Everything is set." She said, joining us.

"We are going to hunt. Edward will stay here with Bella while we are gone." Jasper informed her. Esme nodded.

"Are we all ready? It's bear season." Emmett urged them excitedly. "I don't want to miss any good ones."

Alice laughed. "Alright, lets go."

"You'll be back soon, right?" Bella asked her brother.

"Yes. Don't worry. Edward will keep you safe." Jasper joked. She smiled and hugged him. He froze, but relaxed and hugged her back.

"_Wow. I figured she would hate me after she found out. I'm glad she doesn't." _He thought, and I suddenly felt happy, too. Stupid Jasper and his stupid power. It was nice to feel content, though. I would bug him about it later.

"Bye." Bella said when she stepped back. Her voice sounded shaky.

"Seriously. Don't worry." Jasper said. "I'll see you soon." And with that, he ran out the door to join the others.

"What do you want to do?" I asked her after a moment. She was still looking out the door in the direction that Jasper had gone. She turned to come and sit beside me on the couch.

"How about you tell me when exactly my brother turned into a vampire." She said seriously. I hadn't been expecting that. I didn't answer.

"How did I miss it? I mean, I'm not here all the time, but I still call him and email him. How did I never notice? And how did Charlie never notice?" She asked, her voice growing with anticipation.

I sighed. "To tell you the truth, it was pretty easy for you to miss. You never saw him, so you couldn't tell when his appearance changed, and his voice really didn't change that much. Charlie on the other hand, well, we all thought that he would find out. We knew that we wanted Jasper with us; Alice had seen that he would join us; so we took him up to a clan in Denali where Eleazar, a friend of ours, was able to help calm Jasper down during the change. He was a mess, and with his ability to make others feel what he feels, we all suffered with him. When it was finally over, he was furious. He attacked everything, but wasn't able to hurt anyone, because, like us, one of the others has a talent. Lillian, who lives in Denali with Eleazar, can project force fields." I paused, looking to see her reaction. She was laughing.

"Force fields! Yeah, right. Okay." She said between laughs. I looked at her skeptically. She stopped laughing after a moment.

"Seriously? Force fields?" I nodded. "Wow." I didn't answer her. I knew that her understanding was too good to be true; she thought that we were all crazy. It must be hard, since she was trying to believe her brother. But, really. What human would believe that her brother and childhood friends were immortal vampires?

"Please continue. I won't interrupt again." She said quietly after I didn't respond.

I cleared my throat and she giggled. I smiled and took her hand easily.

"As I was saying. Lillian can project force fields." Bella was carefully composed this time; I grinned at her effort. "So, lucky for us, your brother didn't kill us." She giggled again. It _did _sound kind of funny. "After he had calmed down, we explained to him what he was. He accepted it quickly, but all he kept talking and thinking about was Charlie and you. He thought that we were going to kill you." I shook my head. "I have no idea how he got that crazy idea, but still, he thought it."

"After we explained to him that we weren't going to kill anyone, he relaxed and came home shortly. He didn't have many friend that he was around besides us, so he didn't have any difficulty with his thirst. It also helped that it was summer, and he didn't have to go to school. And that's it." I concluded with a huff, leaning back into the couch.

It was quiet for another moment while Bella digested that. "I still can't believe I missed it." She sighed suddenly.

"Like I said, you weren't around."

"I know. I really think I should have been around more now. Perhaps I wouldn't feel so, in the dark, you know?" She asked, looking up at me.

"Yeah, I know. But you're here now." I pointed out. She smiled and leaned into my side.

"So what now?" She asked. "I mean, don't I know too much? Like you guys will have to kill me to protect your secret?" Her attempt at humor was weak; she was really worried about this.

"What?! No! I mean, of course not! We're not going to kill you." I said quickly.

She was still tense; I could feel the anxiety rolling off her. I rubbed my hand across her back. "Really. We won't hurt you." I soothed.

"I know." She sighed. I stood up when I heard a familiar ringtone, knocking Bella to the ground.

"Edward!" Bella accused. I put out a hand to quiet her. The song continued.

_There's a little creepy house  
In a little creepy place  
Little creepy town  
In a little creepy world  
Little creepy girl  
With her little creepy face  
Saying funny things that you have never heard_

Do you know what it's all about  
Are you brave enough to figure out  
Know that you could set your world on fire  
If you are strong enough to leave your doubts

Feel it  
Breathe it  
Believe it  
And you'll be walking on air  
Go try  
Go fly  
So high  
And you'll be walking on air  
You feel this  
unless you kill this  
Go on  
And you're forgiven  
I knew that  
I could feel that  
I feel like  
I am walking on air

She has a little creepy cat  
And a little creepy bat  
Little rocking chair and an old blue hat  
That little creepy girl  
Oh she loves to sing  
She has a little gift  
An amazing thing  
With her little funny eyes of hazel  
With her little funny old blue hat  
She will go and set the world on fire  
No one ever thought she could do that

Feel it  
Breathe it  
Believe it  
And you'll be walking on air  
Go try  
Go fly  
So high  
And you'll be walking on air  
You feel this  
unless you kill this  
Go on  
And you're forgiven  
I knew that  
I could feel that  
I feel like  
I am walking on air

Flitter up  
and Hover down  
Be all around  
Be all around

You know that I love you, go on...

Feel it  
Breathe it  
Believe it  
And you'll be walking on air  
Go try  
Go fly  
So high  
And you'll be walking on air  
You feel this  
unless you kill this  
Go on  
And you're forgiven  
I knew that  
I could feel that  
I feel like  
I am walking on air

I am walking on air...

Where was that coming from?! I knew who it was. Simon was back. Why did everyone decide that _now _was a good time to visit?

"Bella. Go upstairs. Now." I said, turning to her. Her face drained of all it's color. "It's fine. Just go." She turned and ran, much too slow, up the stairs. When I looked back at the door, Simon appeared.

"_All I have to do is keep him downstairs." _I thought. Unlike any of us,Simon had absolutly no sense of smell. His other senses were dull, too. He obviously hadn't heard me tell Bella to retreat upstairs, so she was safe for now. Another thing that differed from us and Simmon was that he still ate humans; that was why he was such a threat.

"Hello, Edward." Simon was not particularly fond of me; he only came around for Rosalie. Of course she showed no interest; she had Emmett; but she still had her fair share of sutors, which, inevitably, included Simon.

"Simon." I greeted. "Your phone was ringing." I said, nodding towards the phone in his hand.

"I noticed. It was a wrong number. I didn't answer." He said, matching my tone.

"What brings you here?" I asked impatiently.

"The usual."

"Oh, you mean trying to steal my _married _sister? _That _usual?" I sneered.

"Exactly." He grinned.

"Well, she's out at the moment. But if you'd like to come back, oh lets say, _never,_ then I'm sure she'll be available to see you then."

He growled. "You know as well as I do that she wants me. I mean, come on, who _doesn't?_ I'm _hot._" That was just like Simon. He was so full of himself that he couldn't even see his own downfalls. I shook my head in mock sympathy.

"Simon, Simon, Simon. When are you going to learn?" I asked.

"Learn what?" He said, crouching down. He was so much weaker than me; it was almost comical.

"To stay off my property." I growled, flinging myself at him and throwing him out the door. He landed on his butt. Before he could even move I was behind him.

"Peek-a-boo." I whispered in his ear; he jumped. Grabbing the back of his shirt, I threw him into one of the many huge pinetrees in our yard.

"Back off, Edward. I'm not here for you." He said, standing up and brushing off his back. When he looked back, he smiled.

"Who's your new friend?" He asked, pointing to an upstairs window.

"_Maybe I have a chance with her. She doesn't look so bad. Kind of cute, really." _He thought. I growled, but then froze when I realized that he didn't know that she was human. I laughed.

"Tough luck, Simon. She's taken." I said.

This surprised him. "By who?"

"Me." I stated, crouching down in a defensive position.

He laughed. "Not for long. Once she sees me, she's all _mine._"

"Walk away, dude. You're not going anywhere near her."

"Why? You don't want the competition?" He sneered, still full of himself.

"You think she would want any of _that?_" I said, waving my hand towards him. "Please." I snorted.

His eyes tightened. "Like she would want any of _that?_" He said, mimicking my action.

"Uh, yeah. And guess what? She's got it." I was probably making the situation worse, but it was just so much fun to mess with him.

"We'll see about that." He stated lividly. I was really starting to annoy him. He didn't appreciate jabs at his ego.

"Is that a challenge?" I asked chuckling.

"I do believe it is." He ran off into the forest as he spoke, looking behind him as he did so. I was about to shout out a warning for the coming tree, but decided against it. He ran straight into it, and fell to the ground. I turned away laughing. He was such an idiot.

Although he was gone now, I was going to have to watch Bella etrememly close until he gave up. I didn't want him to hurt her when he found out that she was human.

I ran up the stairs to see Bella sitting on the couch in my room; she was shaking. I went to sit beside her, taking her hand.

"What was that." She asked quietly.

"Nothing. It's fine. Just another one of Rosalie's sutors. He's gone now." I comforted; the shaking didn't decrease.

"His eyes. They were like Ryan's." She stated.

"Yes."

"He was here. Ryan sent him here. To get me." She whispered.

"No! No, Bella. This was Simon. He came here for Rosalie." I said, startled by her asumption.

"No. He came for me." She denied. "He will come again; for me. I'm going to die. He's going to kill me."

"Bella! Bella, no. Stop being absurd. He's not going to kill you." I said, taking her sholders and shaking them; I could hear her teeth rattle.

"Edward. He saw me. He knows I'm here. I have to go." She said, struggling to stand up. I held her down.

"Bella. Look at me." She looked away, out the window. "Look at me!" I shouted. She turned to face me. "You're fine. He's not coming for you. Bella, Simon doesn't even know Ryan!"

"He does. He's going to kill me." She said again, shaking her head slowly back and forth.

"Bella! Snap out of it! No one is going to touch you. You can trust me." I promised, moving my hand to her cheek. "You're safe." I whispered.

She stopped shaking and looked me in the eye. "Promise?" She murmured.

"I promise. You're absolutly safe." I vowed, glad that she had relaxed. I knew that the shock of Ryan was eventually going to set in; it was best that there weren't more people here when it did. I didn't want to scare her off, and Jasper _could _be a bit smothering when it came to Charlie and Bella. Whenever he would find out that she had been hurt, she would consistantly call and email her until he confirmed that she was alright. It was behavior that we really didn't expect from him too often, and it definatly wouldn't help her situation.

She yawned involintarily and curled her legs up underneath her.

"Sleep, Bella. You're safe with me. Nothing will ever hurt you again." I whispered as she closed her eyes. I started to hum a random melody, soft and smooth, and she eventually sank into unconciousness.

**Okay. I'm looking for a betareader. Does anyone want to be my beta? Send me a review or a PM or something to let me know if you do! Thanks to CourtneyFirehand for Lillian and Simon's names.**

**(Oh, and sorry of I made Bella freak out alittle at the end there. It will all make sense soon! I promise!)**

**Kendra**


	17. Wake Up

**Hi ya! So, I got bored writing in EPOV and BPOV all the time, so I tried something new. This chapter is in SimonPOV and AlicePOV. I found that I absolutly LOVE writing in SPOV, so you'll probably be seeing more of that. So anyway... Chapter 16!!**

**Disclaimer: Not Stephenie Meyer. I wish I was, though. Then I would get paid to write. :D**

**Simon's POV**

YES! I finally had a worthy challenge! Secretly, I knew that I really wouldn't get Rosalie anytime soon, so why not put my effort into something else? Perhaps something that I could _really _gain from? Plus, it would give me a chance to mess with Edward. I laughed at that thought; I hated him. Hated him with a passion. He was always getting in the way of Rosalie and I.

I hoped that the mystery girl in the window hadn't seen me hit that tree; or how Edward had degraded me. He would pay for that.

Now, my hair was smoothed and I was sitting in a local coffee shop thinking of ways to steal Edward's little girlfriend. I never had trouble being around the humans; I couldn't smell them. Sometimes it was annoying, not being able to hunt by what my body was craving. I normally ended up with a nasty tasting human, although there were those few, rare times that I caught a tasty one. Maybe, if this girl wound up as mine, she could help me find more appetizing meals.

As I was considering this, a young girl walked past me and winked. I smiled back, flashing my teeth; she giggled. I knew I was incredibly hansom, but each time I caught a glimpse of myself in any type of reflective surface, I couldn't help but gasp. Now was one of those times. In the small, gleaming surface of that girls locket necklace, I saw myself; my blonde hair flew slightly in the breeze that she created as she passed me, and my green contacts shone brightly. My features were flawless, natural, smooth; my teeth sparkled, even in the dim lighting of the café. My dark green turtle neck sweater hugged my strong neckline perfectly, accentuating my pale skin. I loved the way I looked. I loved turning women's heads. The only thing that I _didn't _love, was turning the occasional _male's _head. I shivered slightly, but the expression on my face was still dazzling.

But then the girl was gone, and I couldn't see myself any longer. I sighed. It was so hard to focus; I had to find someone to help me. The only other friends I had that lived near by were Kate and Tanya, but I doubted that they would be willing to help. I had to do this on my own.

I stood up, laid five dollars face up on the table, and walked coolly out the door. I ignored most of the women who stared, thinking of my new challenge. The girl, she had looked so…_human. _It was extremely attractive; I could see why Edward had pursued her. It was too bad that my eyesight wasn't better. I had wanted to see much more of her; how tall she was, what she wore; but she had quickly vanished from my line of sight.

She was like them in her hunting habits, I knew. Her eyes were a dark shade of gold, almost brown; she would need to hunt, soon. That was it! I would wait out in the woods near the house, waiting for her! Then, as she left to hunt, I would follow her, and sweep her of her feet; when _Cullen _wasn't around to embarrass me. It was the perfect plan; flawless. I walked, almost skipped in my giddiness, to my car and drove about three miles from their home. This was where I would wait.

**Alice's POV**

I was satisfied now; my thirst was quenched and I had a good hold on myself. I was excited to go and play with Bella. Maybe she would want to go shopping! I started jumping up and down as I waited for the others to return and meet up with us. Jasper sent me a wave of calm and I stopped jumping; I looked up and smiled at him.

"You were making me all jumpy." He explained with a chuckled.

"Sorry. I'm just really excited, that's all." I said, taking his hand.

"When will the others be joining us?" He asked.

I thought for a minute, looking into the future and counting the seconds. "I-" I was cut off by Carlisle coming up from behind us.

"Now." He said, smiling. I knew that was going to happen; I was going to warn Jasper. Oh, well.

"Lets _go!_" I nearly shouted when Jasper lessened the calm. It came back full force.

I took off anyway, not running quite as fast as I would have liked to, since my body was too calm for that. Emmett took it as a competition and sped ahead of me, gaining ground. I looked back at Jasper, begging him with my eyes to let me be excited. He evidently agreed, since the feeling returned. I ran off after Emmett, not going to be beat seeing Bella. I was going to win, I could see it. Emmett would stop running in about fifteen seconds to laugh at me more for never being able to catch him. Then I would speed ahead; he wouldn't even see it coming.

Just as I had seen, I beat Emmett home. I raced up the stairs to Edward's room.

"_Bella! Bella, Bella, Bella, Bella, Bella!!" _I thought. I was sure Edward heard me; he answered his door quickly and quietly.

"Shh!" He whispered. "She's sleeping!"

"Aw…" I whined. "I'll just go wake her up, then!" I ran around Edward and went straight to his bed where Bella lay. I was just about to scream a wake-up, when I felt a hand over my mouth and I was swept off my feet. Before I knew it, I was in the hallway.

"Don't wake her up, Alice. She's tired." Edward said, removing his hand from my mouth and lowering me to the floor.

"Fine." I huffed, folding my arms across my chest. "But once she wakes up, she's mine. I want to do her hair! And maybe she'll want to go shopping!"

"Alice!" Emmett yelled, running down the hallway towards us. "You _suck!_"

I laughed, running to the stairs. I ran around Emmett and slid down the banister, running straight into Carlisle; he cleared his throat.

"Sorry." I muttered.

"Nice job, Alice! You woke up Bella!" Emmett yelled from upstairs.

"Yay! Come on, Bella! We've got lots to do!" I screamed, darting back upstairs.

"What?" I heard her ask, her voice heavy with sleep.

I hurried and grabbed my makeup and hair products, prancing into Edward's room.

"Sit up straight, Bella. We're going soon and I want you to look halfway decent."

"Going where?" She asked, still only half-awake.

"The mall, of course! You _have_ to go shopping with me!" I cried.

"What?! No!" She said, standing up. I grabbed her arm.

"Yes. We are _going _to go shopping." I said; she sat back down slowly.

Finally! Bella had stopped squirming. It was so difficult to fix her hair when she was moving all over the place. Now her bangs were flipped back on the top of her head and pinned down in a bobby pin. Her makeup was perfect, with light pink eye shadow, pink blush, and clear, shiny lip gloss.

"My masterpiece is complete!" I exclaimed, feigning a fake French accent.

Bella stood and stretched. "Ugh! My back is killing me." She complained.

"Oh, shush! Let's go." I said, grabbing her hand and running out of the room. She screamed.

"OW! Alice! Let go!" She screeched. I released her arm, puzzled; she was cradling her arm.

"What did you do?" Edward demanded, appearing next to Bella.

"Nothing! I don't know! I mean, all I did was grab her arm." I said, startled. Then everything faded and I froze, focusing.

"_Ow…Jasper it hurts." Bella whimpered. She was in a white room, laying in a bed with rails on the sides of it. There was an IV in her right arm._

"_I know, Bella. I know." Jasper looked like he was in pain, too._

"_Bella, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." I apologized from the corner._

_She sighed. "It's fine. I know you didn't mean to hurt me."_

Then it was over. Oh my God. Bella was in the hospital. I must have really hurt her.

"Bella, honey. I think your arm is broken." Carlisle said. "We're going to have to take you to the hospital."

**YAY! So remember when Edward said that he would never hurt her, and neither would any other member of his family? Oooo!! DRAMA! Not really, but I will make the DRAMA happen. I love DRAMA, don't you?**

**DRAMA!! :p**

**Kendra**


	18. Rebroken Wounds

**Hi everybody! I'm really happy today. Can you guess why? Well, it's because I got so many reviews!! Thanks everyone! Reviews always make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! I know that sounds cheesey, and I would stop being cheesey, but it's just too much fun!**

**Disclaimer: NOT MINE!! :D**

**Enjoy!!**

The ride to the hospital was quick, and filled with muffled complaints, mostly from me. Edward rode in the back of Carlisle's black Mercedes with me on my left, and Jasper on my right. Edward consistently asked me if my arm hurt, while glaring silently at Alice; she looked terrible. Her face was filled with grief. I wanted to try and tell her that it was okay, that I was fine and I didn't blame her at all, but every time I tried to speak, Jasper would shush me and tell me to rest.

Within ten minutes of arriving at the hospital, I was in a room with Carlisle examining my arm. It really didn't hurt as bad as it did before. A dull numbing sensation was seeping through my body.

"Yes, her arm is defiantly broken." I heard Carlisle say in the distance; Jasper growled.

"I'm sorry." Alice murmured. "It was an accident."

He took a deep breath. "I understand. We just have to realize that she's not like us; she extremely fragile. Really, this is my fault. I should have taken her home."

"No. It was going to happen eventually if she was going to be near any of us. It's not your fault. Come, let her sleep." Carlisle said.

"I'm going to stay here, if it's okay." Edward spoke softly. I could feel myself being taken over by the irresistible pull of sleep; I fought against it, begging my body for just five more minutes of consciousness.

I hadn't heard any reply from Carlisle, but suddenly I felt a cool hand on my cheek.

"Bella." Edward's voice was laced with pain. "I'm so sorry." I wanted to comfort him, to reach out and say that it wasn't his fault. To say that it wasn't even Alice's fault. But my tongue was heavy and difficult to move. All I found myself being able to do was turn my head in the direction of his voice.

"Sleep, Bella. I'm here." He murmured in my ear. I sighed, letting go of my desperate attempt to stay awake, and drifting into unconsciousness.

I woke to the sound of muffled voice, one of which I recognized immediately as Jasper.

"Jasper?" I asked groggily.

He was at my side in an instant. "Bella?" I smiled.

"Are you feeling alright? Do we need to give you any more morphine?" I shook my head.

"Just some water, if you can." My voice cracked.

"I'll be right back." He ran out of the room.

My thoughts flashed to Charlie. He was going to be pissed. First, I don't come home because of a "camping trip" on my first day here, and then I end up in the hospital. What was my story now?

"Is my dad here?" I asked Esme, who was sitting in the corner in an uncomfortable looking chair. She nodded.

"I called him this morning. He came here from work. He's in the waiting room; would you like me to go and get him?" She asked.

"No. Not yet." I didn't want him to see me when I didn't have my story straight. While I was thinking, Jasper re-entered the room with a Dixie cup full of water in his hand.

"Sorry, Bella, but this is all the water you're allowed to have. Your arm set wrong and Carlisle is going to have to re-break the fracture, so first you need a CAT scan. That means no water." I sighed, holding out my hand for the cup. The water was gone in a second, although it did help moisten my throat.

"When do I have to get this CAT scan thing?" I asked.

"Ten minutes." Carlisle answered, walking in the room and checking my charts. I groaned.

"You'll be fine." A blonde nurse said, walking into the room and smiling hugely at Carlisle; he rolled his eyes.

"Ally, wheel her to room 785, please." Carlisle said politely.

"Sure!" She said, way too enthusiastically. This seemed to annoy Esme. She stood up and walked over to Carlisle.

"Be careful." She said, kissing him full on the lips. I looked away, giggling at Ally's expression; she was furious. But then again, so was Jasper. Well, he was mixed between surprise, anger, and revenge. It was hysterical. I finally started laughing, and Ally looked down and glared at me.

"Ms. Swan? I'm going to need you to sit in this wheel chair for me." She said, her voice tight. Jasper came around to the right side of the bed and helped me into the chair, chuckling.

Esme and Carlisle had pulled apart, and Carlisle was grinning from ear to ear. Esme laughed, and returned to her seat in the corner.

"Alright. Let's go, Bella." Carlisle's voice was high, but it still sounded musical.

Ally wheeled me down the hallway down to endure my CAT scan.

"Bella, I need to you to lay down here." Carlisle instructed, pointing to a table looking structure. I did as I was told.

"Okay. You're going to go in there," He said, pointing to a giant tube, "For about fifteen minutes. Then we'll take you out." I nodded, lying back flat. The table moved underneath me, taking me with it.

The procedure when quickly and Carlisle brought me back to my room.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but we are going to have to re-break your arm." I nodded.

"Jasper told me about that."

"It's going to hurt a bit, but it will be over soon. I need you awake for the process, so I can't give you too much medication." I nodded again.

"As long as I can get knocked out afterward." I joked. I knew what it would feel like; I'd had bones re-broken before. Nothing major, like an arm or a leg, but small things, like a finger.

"I'll be right here." Jasper said from beside me. I smiled. He was an awesome brother, even though he was a vampire and all. It seemed like all of this was becoming easier to accept.

Alice flinched in the corner, drawing my attention to her. I hadn't realized that she was here.

"Ready?" Carlisle asked me.

"Yeah."

"Just squeeze my hand if it hurts." Jasper said, holding out his hand; I took it.

"One, two, three!" Carlisle pulled and twisted my left arm at the same time. I screamed out in pain, squeezing Jasper's hand hard.

"Shh, Bella, shh. It's over." Jasper comforted. His face looked like what I felt like. I screamed again. My arm was burning; it felt like I leaned on a hot burner.

The pain lessened a bit when I didn't move my arm. Too bad Carlisle had other things in mind. "Bella, I need you to bend your arm to see if you can move it." I groaned, but did as I was told. A searing pain tore at the crease in my elbow. I screamed again. Jasper winced simultaneously with my outburst.

"Stop screaming, Bella." Carlisle said, eyeing an annoyed nurse. "Just try and move it slowly." I did. It still burned, but to a lesser extent.

"That's good, Bella. Try moving it faster." It hurt worst than before.

"Ow…Jasper it hurts." I whimpered.

"I know, Bella. I know." Jasper said, squeezing my hand gently.

"Bella, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." Alice apologized from the corner.

I sighed. Of course Alice would feel guilty. I didn't know what to say. "It's fine. I know you didn't mean to hurt me." It was cheesy, but it was all I could come up with.

"Ms. Swan?" A black haired nurse asked from the doorway. "Someone's here to see you." Jasper tensed beside me.

**Haha! Cliffy! Who could it be? Do you guys hate me for adding characters so much?I'll try to ease it down a bit, but I like to be creative. You guys can hate me for it, but hey, I'm just gonna' keep on typing anyways!**

**Kendra**


	19. The OTHER Sister

**Hello everybody!! (Insert cheesey DJ music here!) So I'm having a contest! Yay!! If you can guess my middle name, I devote the next chapter to you, and use your name as one of the students at Forks High!! Yay again!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight! I would've told you by now, don't you think?**

**ENJOY!!**

I was pacing in the hallway that let to Bella's room, to nervous to see her reaction. Alice had had a vision of her, but not just any vision. I had heard what she had seen, and Bella was a vampire. I knew that secretly Jasper wanted Bella to join us, although he would never admit it. And I had to confess that I wouldn't mind Bella joining, either, except for the pain that it would inflict. Another thing that worried me about it most was the fact that, if she agreed to become like us, she didn't know what she was getting into. Bella would be stuck like us forever, and she could be miserable with what she; she could hate herself. I was torn. One part of me longed to keep her safe as her human self; I knew that that idea a futile as long as she would be around my kind; and another half of me wanted her with me and my family, eternally safe.

I shook my head, trying to clear it of the wrong decisions, hoping that, magically, the right decision would make itself apparent. I felt my cell phone vibrate suddenly in my pocket. I pulled it out, seeing that it was Alice.

"Hello?" I asked, flipping it open. No one replied. "Alice?" Again, silence. I pulled it back from my ear to glance at the screen. I snorted, realizing that it was a text message from Alice, not a phone call. I clicked the view now button and a little black font appeared on the screen.

**Edward: I had a vision. Going to check it out. Call Lillian, ASAP. **

I quickly sent her a short reply.

_**What about, Alice? I need some reason for Lillian to come.**_

In less than a minute my phone buzzed again.

**Simon's at the house, in the woods. Lillian needs to get here for Bella. I'll call you as soon as I can. Don't reply.**

I sighed, exiting out her message and dialing Lillian's cell. Why would Simon be a problem? I told them that he had showed up, and everything that had happened. He wasn't a threat.

_Ring._

_Ring._

_Ring._

I impatiently tapped my foot, waiting for her to pick up. On the fourth ring, she did.

"Edward?" Lillian's voice came, confused.

"It's me. Listen, I need you to come to Forks Hospital as fast as you can. We need your help." I said, accentuating the last sentence.

I heard her groan. "What's wrong?"

"I can't explain right now. All I know is that it involves Jasper's sister, Bella." I said, urging her to stop asking question and to get a move on.

"Crap. Alright, I'm on my way." She hung up the phone.

I continued to pace quickly in the hallway, my mind flashing to the earlier conversation I had had with Charlie.

_-flashback-_

"_How's Bella?" He asked, worried._

"_She's still sleeping." I lied quickly. Esme said that Bella didn't want to see him until her story was straight, and my job was to keep him away._

"_Can I see her?" He requested, looking up at my face. I almost caved, but kept strong in my charade. _

_I shook my head. "Carlisle says that it's best if she sleeps. He doesn't want any interruptions interfering with her healing." I chuckled inwardly. I made it rhyme. Okay, off subject. Back to Charlie. "As soon as she wakes up, one of the nurses will come get you." I said, starting to walk away. _

"_I'm going to lose her."__Charlie thought sadly. "Just like her sister." I froze. Sister? I started walking again, only to stop once I was around the corner, pretending to examine a difficult medical chart that had been converted into a poster on the wall._

_Charlie was fighting inwardly with himself. "I should tell her about Louise? No, no. It's too much to dump on her while she's healing. But maybe it would help her cope, knowing that she has a sister out there. No, that wouldn't be good, either. I can tell Jasper, though. He would be excited to know. Yeah. I tell Jasper when he gets back from the cafeteria." _

_I gasped, running to go and tell Jasper to come and talk to Charlie. I passed him in the hall._

"_What's your problem, Edward? I knew that you were coming up here; your tense, dude. Calm down." I took a deep breath, and let it out._

"_Okay, look. I just heard from Charlie that Bella had a twin sister named Louise." His eyes widened. "He was thinking about telling Bella, but decided against it. Now he just wants to tell you. So since he thinks you're at the cafeteria. So, go and get some food or something and meet him in the waiting room. Just pretend like you don't know anything." He nodded, his eyes still wide. I started to feel excited, even though I didn't want to, as he walked down the hallway to the cafeteria._

_-end flashback-_

I still didn't know what had come of that. I decided to walk down to the waiting room, to hear what was going on.

I was too late. By the time I reached the corner where I had hid before to listen to Charlie's thoughts, I bumped into Jasper. He looked oddly relieved.

"_I have another sister!"_ He thought excitedly. _"And I can see all the signs! Edward, she's a vampire!" _

"What?" I gasped.

"_She's a vampire!" _He thought again.

"Wow. What does Charlie think happened to her?" I asked.

"He thinks she was killed in the hospital. She was in a car crash and she was on life support. They took her off of it, but the doctors wouldn't let anyone be with her while she was dieing. Charlie only remembers muffled screams coming from the room, and then silence. They didn't even get to have the body for the funeral; Renée sued, and amazingly, lost." He said, speed talking.

"Wow." I repeated.

"So she's still alive! Edward, this is wonderful news! I have to find her!" He nearly screamed. A nurse in the next room stared at him.

"Shh! Whisper." I said, looking at the nurse and smiling apologetically; she returned to her work.

"I _need _to find her, Edward. I need help, too." He hinted.

I sighed. "Jasper, you know that I'll help you. But first, you have another sister who needs you more."

"You're right." He said, walking back to Bella's room. I went to follow, but then I heard Carlisle's thoughts.

"_Oh, dear. We're going to have to re-break the bone. Her ulna healed all wrong." _I shivered and started to run to her room so I could be there during the process. But I stopped when my phone buzzed again. This time, I checked to see if it was a text message; it was.

"**I went to the house to check it out. Not a threat at the moment. Simon doesn't know that Bella's human. He's waiting for her a few miles from the house."**

I nodded to myself as I typed back.

"**Are you in her room?"**

A few seconds later she responded.

"**Yes. Carlisle is re-breaking her arm."**

I shivered when I heard her scream. I was only down the hallway, so it was natural that I could hear her. I couldn't stand to hear her in pain. I started to walk to her room as I replied.

"**I'm on my way."**

I was about five doors from Bella's room when I felt a cold hand on my shoulder. I stopped, again, and turned around.

"Hello, Lillian." I greeted.

"Edward." She nodded. "Now, why am I here? Jasper's sister?"

"Yes. I'm still not sure why Alice wants you here, but I did as I was told. Obviously, she has a purpose for you." I explained. Lillian nodded again, all business.

I walked over to the nurse's station. "Excuse me?" I asked. A bored looking black haired nurse looked up at me. She instantly smiled.

"Can I help you?" She asked, too friendly.

"_Ooo! He's cute. But who's that girl behind him…?" _She thought.

"Yes. I'm here to see Bella Swan? Can you tell us what room she's in?" I asked, ignoring her thoughts. Of course I already knew what room she was in, but I couldn't just walking in without any questions.

She typed a few things on the computer. "May I ask what the relation is?"

"_Hopefully he's a brother or something. Maybe he's single." _She flipped her hair while she waited for my answer.

"Family friend." I said, smiling. She frowned.

"'Kay. Room 643." She said, looking disappointed.

"_So he's the boyfriend. Figures."_ She thought, depressed. I snickered.

"Thank you." I said, walking to the room.

"Wait! Sir, the doctor's in procedure." She shouted after me.

"_Phew. It's good I remembered the rules or else they could've fired me. He cant go in there during procedure." _She thought.

I turned around. "Oh, its okay. The doctor won't mind. He's my dad." I was acting innocent. I heard Lillian giggle. It was fun to play with this girl's emotions.

"_His DAD?! Dr. Cullen is way too young to have a kid his age!"_

"I'm still going to have to escort you." She said after a moment. I sighed and nodded.

"Ms. Swan? Someone's here to see you." She said, gesturing to us.

"_Why is Lillian here?" _Jasper thought, livid. He'd always had a sour feeling toward her. No one knew why, but he did. I thought it was because she had been hard on him during his new born stage. She would tell him he was terrible at feeding on just animals and that she suspected he cheated. Of course he didn't, but she liked to mess with him and degrade him. It was just her personality.

"Alice?" I asked once the nurse had walked away. "Why did you need Lillian here?" Jasper threw her an unbelieving look.

"Simon is waiting outside the house for Bella. We need to get her home safe, and keep her safe until Simon leaves. That's what Lillian needs to do." She explained.

"So, what? You want me to follow this _human _around like a stray dog to protect her? Some humans have to die, you know. It's the food chain at work." Bella flinched.

"Lillian. We just need you to keep her safe. Please? It would mean a lot to me." Carlisle said. Lillian _loved _Carlisle. She looked up to him in everyway. Everything he did, she praised, and everything she did, she did in search of praise from him.

"Alright. I'll do it." She sighed.

"Thank you." He said. "Bella, someone will be in shortly to cast your arm, and then you can go home. I'm going to go and tell Charlie that it would be best if you stayed with us, so that I could watch your progress more closely."

"He'll agree, although he wants to see her before she leaves." Alice muttered from the corner. "Just tell him that you were climbing up the stairs to go to bed, and you slipped. Your arm broke when you fell down the stairs. He won't ask any more questions."

"Okay." Bella said.

We all walked out of the room as Dr. Hawkins came to cast Bella's arm. When he was finished, her arm was in an orange cast.

"Nice color." I said, noting her arm. She blushed. "Really. Its nice." She blushed even harder.

"Thanks." She murmured. I smiled and took her hand.

We met Charlie by the gift shop where he engulfed Bella in a hug. I let go of her hand, but she took it back. I smiled even bigger.

"Dad!" She whined. "I can't breathe!" He chuckled and let go.

"What am I going to do with you? Not even three days and you've already landed yourself in the hospital! What happened?" He asked.

"I was heading to bed and fell down the stairs. No big deal." She shrugged.

"Nice, Bells. Just watch where you're walking next time, okay?" Charlie said, shaking his head.

"Okay." She said, smiling.

"Alright. So call me tonight. Carlisle wants you to stay with them for a few nights so he can watch your arm. I don't see why it's necessary, but he _is _the doctor." He said, hugging her again. He let go without being told so from her.

"Bye Ch-, er…Dad!" She said, when we parted from him and started to walk to our car.

"Bye, Bells. Be safe!" He waved as we pulled away.

**So...did ya'll read my A/N in the begining? Probably not. But I'm having a contest!! :D So the contest is, if you can guess my middle name, which I made pretty easy, you get the next chapter devoted to you and you get to have your name used as one of the students at Forks High!! So, just send your guess in a review!**

**Kendra**

**Click it. You know you want to win the contest. Click "Go" and type away!  
**


	20. Like I Can Fly

**Hi ya! So I have a winner to the contest! -drumroll please- CourtneyFirehand!! Yay! Sooo, in one of the coming chapters, her name will be used as one of the students of Forks High!!**

**Disclaimer: I'm bored of writing this. It makes me depressed. I'm not Stephenie Meyer. There, now I'm depressed again. Happy?**

**Here ya go!**

It was silent as we drove to the Cullen's house. I could hear Bella's breathing accelerate every time I would shift in my seat. My guess was that she thought I was going to spin around and attack her. Humans. I laughed.

I looked out the window to face the familiar opening of trees that lead to the Cullen house. It was nice to see a familiar setting here. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to any of my sisters in Denali; Tanya was off with one of her new _boyfriends_, Irina was hunting with Kate, and I didn't have time to find anyone else before I had to leave the house so unexpectedly. It was comforting to see a recognizable sight, a glimpse of an old haven.

When I used to get into fights with any member of my family, I knew that I was always welcome with the Cullen's. I remembered one year when I hid there from Tanya's wrath; I had accidentally met her _boyfriend _at the supermarket. He was cute, and we exchanged numbers. No big deal, right? Wrong. Tanya freaked, and broke up with him soon after. I ran; I would never have thought of Tanya as scary until that incident. I was literally shaking when she came home. It was one of the few times that I had to use my power to protect me.

Now we were in the driveway of the huge Cullen mansion, and Jasper was starting to get out of the car. I took that as my cue. Opening my door, I stood, holding out my hand and casting a bluish purple sphere around the car. Bella froze where she was.

"Bella, you need to move. I'm stuck in the car." Alice complained. She inched forward, allowing only enough space for Alice to exit the car. I heard Edward sigh, coming up from beside her and taking her hand.

"Come on." He said, pulling her forward. I followed, keeping us in the center of my circle at all times. Before I knew it, we were in the house. Everyone came to sit on the couch.

"Is he nearby?" Jasper asked Edward.

"Yes. I can hear him, but it's faint." His forehead was creased ever so slightly in concentration.

"What is he thinking about?" I asked. I wanted to get a move on with this; I was tired of this charade already. I lowered my arm minutely, decreasing the area of my circle.

"He can't hear us, can he?" Alice asked me suddenly. She didn't know as much as everyone else did; she paid little attention to me, which the other's put as strange behavior for her. I honestly couldn't care less.

"No. When I'm casting, no one can hear inside of it, or whatever is going on out side of it. Same principal applies with exiting or entering. No one gets in, no one gets out." I explained.

"Okay." She said, turning away.

"What is he thinking about?" Jasper asked again impatiently.

"He found the stream; all he's doing is looking at his reflection." Edward said, still concentrating. I was starting to think that all this was unnecessary. They could just flash a reflective object at this guy and he was distracted.

Jasper frowned, staring at Edward intently; Edward shook his head. I made a mental note to ask about that later.

I giggled as Bella yawned. I couldn't believe that she was tired after all the sleep she'd gotten.

"Are you tired?" Alice asked her.

"No." She lied, yawing again. Alice looked at her disapprovingly. "Maybe a little." She amended; Alice smiled.

"I'll take her upstairs." I volunteered unthinkingly. It made sense for me to, though; she would be safe. Bella was interesting, though. I might as well keep myself occupied while I was here.

"Okay." Alice said, staring at me, which was strange since she seemed to prefer avoiding me. Maybe I wasn't the only one who was acting out of character.

"Come on, then." I coaxed. Bella was still standing up, and I was already at the stairs. I waited for her to reach me, my hand still outstretched, moving my sphere with her, moving it forward with every step she took, keeping her in the dead center.

We finally made it upstairs and she collapsed on the couch in Edward's room. I didn't understand why she picked here to stay; there was a bed in Jasper's, Emmett's, and Carlisle's room. I shrugged it off.

"So, how exactly does that work?" Bella said pointing to my hand, suddenly curious.

"I thought you were sleepy?" I asked suspiciously. She snorted.

"Yeah, right. I know they can here me, so I figured it would be a good time to ask. I just didn't know if you would be the one to bring me upstairs. Like I can't walk up the stairs without dieing…" She muttered. I laughed. This was one unique human.

"Okay, well, like I said, you can't hear inside it, or outside of it form the inside. And you can't get out of it from the inside, or vice versa." I said, still amused.

"Cool. Does it do anything else?" She talked about it like it was a toy, which it was at times.

"It does this." I said, lowering my circle underneath us, and then raising it, lifting us in the air. She gasped.

"Cool, huh?" I said. "It's like I can fly."

"Y-yeah." She said, looking down at her feet. I could hear her heart rate accelerate.

"How come you're floating?" She asked, pointing at my feet.

I shrugged. "My power keeps me in the center of my circle at all times, even when it's raised in the air."

"Wow." She stated. "How high have you gone before?"

"Thirty, maybe forty thousand feet." I said, making it sound like nothing. She made a choking sound. I grinned.

"Alright. It really is time that you go to bed." I said.

"Why? I'm not tired." She complained. I frowned, but thought of something.

"Okay. I second. Don't mention anything about this." I commanded, lowering us to the ground. She nodded.

I lowered my hand and pushed it forward, widening my circle. I looked out the window and saw that it engulfed the whole house.

"Edward!" I called.

"Yes?" His reply was short. He obviously didn't enjoy interruptions.

"Bella says she can't sleep." I eyed Bella cautiously. She smiled.

I heard Alice snort. "Yeah, not after what _you _showed her." Crap. I forgot that she would see that.

"Bring her down." Jasper instructed.

"'Kay." I smiled suddenly, an idea forming in my head. I walked to the glass wall in Edward's room, finding a small keypad beside it. There were two simple buttons on it; "Open", and "Close". I pressed "Open" and the wall slid aside.

"Wanna' fly?" I asked, turning to Bella.

"NO WAY!" Alice yelled. I could hear her starting to run up the stairs. I lessened the area of my circle, closing it around only me and Bella. I saw Alice open Edward's door and then stop dead when she saw Bella walking towards me.

"Sit." I said, pointing to the ground beside me. She sat silently. I slowly raised my hand, glancing to where Alice was. She glaring at me, her mouth moving quickly and silently, forming unheard words. I chuckled, raising my hand quicker. In a matter of seconds, I had directed us outside without a problem.

I shook my hand, playing with Bella a bit. She screamed, but stopped swiftly when she noticed we weren't falling. I laughed, lowering us all the way to the ground and floating through the open glass wall on the bottom of the house. I knew Jasper would be upset with me, but Bella was safe, so he had no reason to be angry. I widened my circle once again and allowed everyone inside.

Jasper ran forward and picked up Bella, carrying her to the opposite side of the room.

"Alice, I think you were wrong. We don't need her help." He said sourly, setting Bella down. I shrugged, letting my circle waver; it flickered like a dying candle.

"No. No matter what, we need her help." Alice said, her voice tight with anger. I strengthened my circle again. Before I knew anything had happened, Bella was behind Edward and Jasper. I cocked my head, waiting for an answer.

"Simon." Was all that came from Edward's lips. I swung around, facing the opposite direction. I could see him, too. He was standing behind one of the many evergreens in the yard, staring at us. Well, really beyond us, through Edward and Jasper, seeing through them to Bella.

**Okay. What will Simon do now? OoOoOoO!! So, change of plans. My friend is going to be my beta now, since it's easier for me to call and bug her when she doesn't edit fast enough. So, yay for pearlxnecklace!**

**(Do you guys like how Lillian has, like, mixed personalities? Everyone was out of character in this chapter, but it was fun to write! :D)**

**Kendra**


	21. Assessment

**Hi again. I'm getting ready to go to a baseball game, so I'm just posting this really speedy quick.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

**Enjoy!**

I shivered. _He _was here. Lillian wasn't helping the problem; showing Bella what she called _flying _and leading Simon right here. He had obviously seen the glow coming from our house, and decided to come here to check it out. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Now, Edward and I were crouched in front of Bella. Simon showed no sign of approach; he merely stood, staring at us. Even at this distance, you could see that his eyes were a brilliant red. Edward had, of course, informed us all of what had happened. Simon thought my sister was one of us.

I almost laughed when I realized he was right; one of my sisters _was _one of us. I shook my head, not wanting to be distracted by my newest mystery. The point was, Bella was not a vampire, no matter how much I wanted her to be. On any other person, I would never wish this fate, but with Bella, I would always have my little sister here. I had tried to voice my opinion on the matter at the hospital with Carlisle while Bella was sleeping. All he told me was that it was my decision, and that I would make the right choice. I knew that somewhere deep down inside me, maybe subconsciously even, I had make the choice. Now, all I had to do was act on it.

Since I had lived with Bella for so long, whenever she would bleed, be it from a major injury, or a minor one, I never went crazy with thirst. I knew what it would do to me if I killed her, and my whole being shied away from the thoughts and actions that could lead to that outcome. And now with Simon in the mix, I couldn't think of a better time than now to change her. Of course I would talk to her and explain what would happen; I wouldn't change her without her permission. I truly believed that she would agree, although she knew that Charlie would be torn, as would Renée. I was almost eighteen, although I still looked as if I was sixteen, and last year had been my last year of school. After Bella's change, I could use her "death" as an excuse to move away. The rest of my family could move shortly after. We could work it out.

I flinched as my eye caught a sudden movement. It was Simon moving away. He realized that we saw him, and he decided to back down by the looks of it, him being clearly out numbered.

Edward relaxed and stood up straight; I relaxed as well, but turned around to see a very frightened Bella.

"M-mm-mm." She stuttered, shivering. "M-mm-my fa-fault." She got out, falling back slightly. Lillian pushed her wall towards her, catching Bella before she fell. I reached for Bella's hand, pulling her towards me. When she was standing straight, I put up on finger.

"_Not _your fault." I said, pulling her into a hug. I could feel her shake her head weakly in my chest. It took me a moment before I realized she was crying. I shushed her, rubbing her back, when something hit me. I swore under my breath, realizing that school started _tomorrow. _Bella couldn't go to school in this condition. She wasn't even ready in regard of school supplies.

"She can use some of ours. We have more than plenty. I think she'll be okay." Edward said from beside me. I released Bella; she had stopped crying, although her eyes were still red and puffy.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"We have school tomorrow." Edward answered. I heard Alice groan.

"What?! School doesn't start until August!" She nearly shouted.

"Not here. We got out earlier than you." I said.

"We got out in May. I haven't heard of anyone getting out before then." She said, disbelief clear in her voice.

I shrugged. "We did. So, you have school tomorrow."

**Sorry it was so short, but as I said, I'm getting ready to leave. I promise the school field trip scene will be coming really soon!**

**PLEASE R&R!! :D**

**Kendra**


	22. School

**Hi my readers!! So I'm having major writers block and this is the best I could do. I think it's okay, although it's mostly just a filler.**

**Disclaimer: No. Sadly, I'm not SM and Twilight is not mine. Sorry. D:**

**ENJOY!**

I rolled over groggily, stuffing my head under my pillow to hide from the light. It _could not _be morning already. I felt as if I had just fallen asleep. I couldn't believe that school started today. It was too early; I had only had, like, three weeks of summer. I wasn't ready to go back to school. The worst part was that Jasper was out of school, and I had to drive by myself; the new girl, out there and vulnerable.

I pulled myself up, realizing that I wasn't going to get much more sleep without being late for my first day. Grabbing my bag of toiletries, I made my way to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and combed through my hair. When I looked half-way decent, I walked back to my room. All of my clothes were still organized and tidy from when I had unpacked them, so it was easy to see the small selection that was my wardrobe. I ended up with a white short sleeve shirt, a black jacket, and jeans.** (Pictures on my profile)** Nothing special today- I didn't know what the people at my school would be wearing, so hopefully I would fit in, blend in even. I didn't want all the attention.

I felt terrible last night. Simon had come to the house; I still didn't understand that situation; and my plan to talk to Edward had exploded in my face. I had really freaked out when Simon had first come, and I wanted to apologize for that. Edward was really nice about everything, and I was feeling like I was really over the whole Ryan thing; I didn't remember much, so I just tried to forget the whole incident. I also wanted to talk to Edward about what was happening between us. I felt like I was taking everything so fast, but somehow I knew I loved him. Renée would be upset; she would say that I just didn't know what love felt like, and that it was just a "crush". I sort of agreed with that. I _didn't _know what love felt like, but there was just such a strong connection between Edward and me. It couldn't be just a crush. But first, I had to know if he felt the same, and when I tried to bring it up, Jasper suddenly decided that it was a wonderful time to take me home, and that Carlisle wouldn't need me to stay over night since we had school in the morning; Charlie had forgotten all about school. So I was shipped out the door and back to our house. Thus, end of talking to Edward.

Jasper had snuck out last night to get some school supplies for me from the Cullen's house. Now, in the corner of my room lay a light grey bag. It was a gift from Alice, and it was _huge. _Big enough to hold all of my books, at least. **(Again, picture on my profile!) **I suddenly noticed that it matched my outfit. Wow, that was ironic; Alice had to know that I would match today.

I walked downstairs, grabbed a granola bar, and rushed out the door. I stopped dead in my tracks when I realized I didn't have a car. I started walking, finding no other way to get to school. When I glanced in the driveway, I jumped. A red pickup was talking Charlie's placing in the driveway. I walked hesitantly towards it, my eyes searching. In the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of white on the dashboard; it looked like an envelope. Checking the door, I found it was unlocked. I opened it and reached for the paper.

_Bella,_

_I was going to show you last night, but you were asleep when I got home. I bought you a car. Good luck at school today. I'll be home around five. The keys are in the ignition._

_Dad_

CHARLIE DID WHAT?! He _so _did _not _buy me a car! I felt a tear slid down my cheek as I jumped in the seat of _my car. _It was perfect! I absolutely loved it. I would have to thank Charlie tonight.

I found the keys in the ignition, just as Charlie had said, and I turned them to the right. I jumped when the car started; it was _loud!_ I would have to get used to that.

Within fifteen minutes, I was at the school. I walked to the office and was greeted by an older looking red head behind the counter. She eyed my broken arm hesitantly.

"Hi. I'm Isabella Swan." I said when I reached the desk. Understanding flashed across her face.

"Oh! Miss. Swan. Here are your classes." She said, reaching in a small file cabinet beside her. Handing a large white paper to me, she picked up a small pink slip, too. "Have all of your teachers sign this, and then bring it back to me at the end of the day."

I nodded, muttering a "thank you". She smiled kindly and returned to her work. I found my first class, English, and walked up to the teacher, handing Mr. Mason my slip, asking him to sign it.

"There we go! Alright, just pick a seat, Isabella." He said, handing me my paper.

"It's Bella." I said, smiling kindly.

"Okay. Bella it is!" He responded, smiling back and looking down at his class sheet. I turned around and walked to the middle of the room, scanning for an open seat; I wanted one by the window. I spied an open chair next to a blonde boy. I walked over to him.

"Is this seat open?" I asked quietly, pointing beside him. He looked up and his mouth popped open slightly.

"S-sure." He said after a moment. I smiled and laid my things down opposite of him.

"I'm Mike." He said, holding out his hand for me to shake. I took it.

"Bella." I smiled.

**So...? I liked this chapter, because I love Mike!! Don't hate me for that! **

**Alright, I have a challenge for ya'll. If everyone who reads this sends me a review, I'll know how many people read this all the way through! Yay! Self-esteem boost! :D So, I don't care what the review says. It can be like, "HI!!", or like, "...". Honestly, I don't care. It could just be spaces!! Just review so I know how many of you actually read it!**

**Kendra**


	23. Oh Mike!

**Hi!! Sorry it took so long for this chapter. My beta's internet is out, so I edited this. So, sorry if there's any errors!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own "Twilight" or any of the other wonderful books that SM has writen... D:**

**ENJOY!! **

"So we're going to pick up Bella?" I asked Alice before we left the house.

"Yes!" She said. "I've already told you ten times. We're just going to stop by her house to see if she wants a ride."

"Okay." I said, raising my hand in the air, signaling that I had another question.

"What?" She said, pulling her bag onto her shoulder.

I lowered my hand. "Charlie bought her a car. What if she's not there?" Her eyes glazed over as she looked ahead.

_Bella was walking outside, locking the front door on her way out. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the car. Walking towards it, she found the door unlocked, and an envelope on the dash board. She read it, finding that it was a letter from Charlie. She smiled, closed the letter, and drove to school._

_She stopped by the office and grabbed her schedule and a little pink paper, heading to her first class. She talked to her teacher and then walked to the middle of the room, turning many heads. She walked to a table next to the window on the right side of the room and spoke to a young boy that I recognized as Mike Newton._

"_Is this seat open?" She asked timidly, whispering even._

_Mike turned his head towards her and his mouth opened in a small "O"._

"_S-sure." He stuttered, shoving his things to the side. She sat beside him, laying her bag on the table._

_He seemed to snap himself out of his trance and stuck out his hand for her to shake, introducing himself. _

"_I'm Mike." He said, smiling dumbly._

"_Bella." She said, smiling back politely and shaking his outstretched hand._

"I guess we don't have to pick her up." Alice said glumly. "I'll just have to give her the head band later." She sighed.

"Okay…" Emmett said, walking into the room. "Whatever. We have to leave. We're going to be late."

"We can take my car." I offered, grabbing my keys.

"Alright. Let's go." Rosalie urged, striding to the door.

We got to school on time and separated to our classes. It was too bad that Jasper wouldn't be joining us this year. He supposedly got an offer to end school early from an out of state college. Our school believed he took the offer, but then decided to wait to go to college for the rest of us. So he took the year off from school. **(Can you really do that? I know that in high school here, in AZ, you can take a year off of school for good grades and advanced classes, but I don't know about Washington.) **Now, my family and I were in school, and graduating next year.

I heard Rosalie groan. _"I have the same first period class as Bella." _She thought. I groaned too. _I _wanted my first class to be with Bella. Instead, I got Calculus. I did have Government with Bella, though. That was next period. I would make sure to sit next to her.

First period passed in a haze. We weren't assigned any homework since it was the first day back to school, and every thought in the room was filled with curious thoughts, all centered around Bella, the mysterious new girl.

I nearly ran from the room when the bell rang, and I made it to Government before any of the other students.

"Good morning, Edward." Mrs. Jefferson greeted me from her desk. I nodded and walked to the back of the room, the desk by the window, leaving the seat next to the window open for Bella, sensing that she would like to sit next to it, since she chose to sit there in her first hour class.

Slowly, the class room began to fill up. About half a minute before the bell was scheduled to ring, Bella stumbled in, handing a little sheet of pink paper to the teacher.

"_Oh! This must be the new student! I'm sure she's mortified, being new here in such a small school; I don't think I'll make her introduce herself today." _I smiled. I knew it would make Bella happy if she didn't have to speak in front of a crowd.

When she turned back around after the teacher handed her the sheet back, I waved my hand in the air, gaining her attention. She smiled and made her way towards me.

"Hi." She sighed, laying her things on the desk.

"Hello." I greeted cheerfully, which gained me a sidelong glace from Bella. "So how was your first class?" I asked in a slightly less happy tone. She grimaced.

"Oh, _wonderful._ I sat next to _Mike._" She said, rolling her eyes. I laughed, something I hadn't done in awhile. The bell had rung, and people were beginning to stare, wondering why Bella was sitting with a Cullen.

"What did he do?" I asked, my tone still light. Mrs. Jefferson still hadn't started class.

"Flirted with me constantly." She said, shrugging. I growled.

"Newton." I stated, glaring across the room at his blonde head, wanting so badly to throw something at it. I felt Bella's hand on my arm.

"It's fine. I just tuned it out, anyway." She said quietly. I relaxed and heaved a sigh. Mike turned toward us, his mind shouting accusing thoughts at me.

"_Cullen! No! Bella is __mine__! He can't just step in like that! Damn him! Damn him to the deepest pit of hell!" _I snickered; he seemed to notice it. _"Did Cullen just laugh? Oh crap! He sees me! He knows I'm staring at him! But, no, I'm staring at Bella. She's so hot…LOOK AWAY! He's still looking at you, Mike!" _He whipped his head away from us, his face turning red.

"What?" Bella whispered to me. Mrs. Jefferson had started class.

"Newton's thinking about you. That's all." I said, inclining my head towards Mike. She shrugged.

--

Finally! I was sitting in Spanish, a language that I had already perfected, when the bell rang. I raced to the door, probably faster than humanly possible. Running to the office, I ran into Mike. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"Cullen." He sneered.

"Newton." I said back, matching his tone.

"Enjoy your first day back?" He asked, not at all interested.

I decided I was going to play with him. "Yes. I had a few classes with a _very _friendly girl. Bella Swan? Have you met her? She's new here." I asked, stressing the word "very". He tensed.

"Yes. I did meet her." He replied, not moving his lips.

I nodded. "Very nice girl. I actually had the pleasure of inviting her to my home tonight for dinner." And I _had _invited her to our house, but not to eat there. I was planning on taking her out to eat.

"_CULLEN! HE STOLE MY GIRL! I called dibs, too!" _He thought angrily.

"If you'll excuse me." I said, walking around him. He stepped to the side just as I was passing him, trying to bump me to the side; he ended up stumbling backwards.

"Watch yourself." I warned, chuckling. I reached my car, leaving behind a livid Mike, to see that Bella was sitting in the passenger seat.

"Are we driving you home today?" I asked her when I enter the car.

She shook her head. "Alice insisted that Rosalie, Emmett and she take my car. She practically shoved Emmett in the flatbed." She sighed. "I just got that car today, too. I really wanted to drive it."

"Why would Alice do that?" I said, mostly to myself. But then I realized why. I saw that Mike's car was parked directly next to mine. He was walking towards it and his eyes widened when he saw us in my car. Bella followed my gaze, her cheeks reddening. I rolled down the windows as I pulled out of my parking place.

"Hi, Mike!" Bella yelled out the window, trying to be nice.

"Hi, Bella." Mike choked out.

"See you tomorrow!" She said, as we pulled away from him.

"'Kay." I heard him whisper; he was pouting now.

"Poor Mike." I said, shaking my head, mock sympathy clear in my voice.

"What was he thinking about?" She asked.

"He was busy damning me to hell." I laughed.

"Aw…he must be awfully mad. What was he angry at you about?"

"He thinks I took his chances away from him. He wants to date you." I said, shrugging.

A moment passed. "You did take his chances away from him." Bella whispered.

"What?" I asked.

"I won't date him." She said again, quieter.

"Why not?" I asked, wondering what she was getting at.

"I won't date him, because of you." Her voice was nearly inaudible now.

"Bella, I'm not keeping you from seeing anyone." I said, taking her hand.

"I know. But I only want to see you. Ever since I came here, you've been here for me. You comforted me, stayed with me, and explained things to be. Every time I'm near you, I feel some sort of a…a current pulling me towards you. I really can't explain it any other way." She was still whispering, her head turned away, out the window.

"Bella…" I said, moving my hand from hers to her cheek, turning her head towards me. She looked away. "Bella, I understand."

"You do?" She asked, turning her head slightly towards me.

"Yes, I do. I feel the same way."

She sighed. I pulled over to the side of the road.

"Why are we stopping?" She asked.

"I want to try something." I said, turning to her. Her eyes were wide as I leaned forward.

"Edward…Are you sure?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yes." I said, putting my finger over her mouth. I leaned forward and kissed her softly. She sighed and wrapped her arms around my neck. The thirst wasn't a problem yet; of course she still smelled heavenly, but I didn't feel the need to kill her. I pulled away slowly, leaning my forehead against hers; I could hear her heart rate racing.

"I love you." She said quietly. WHAT?! No, she did not just say that. This was wrong; she couldn't love me. I had taken it too far. Or maybe it was okay that she loved me. Jasper wanted to change her, so maybe it wasn't such a terrible thing. And I couldn't deny the feelings I had towards her. I loved her, too.

I decided that it was best to go with my gut on this. "I love you, too."

**YAY! Sorry if I suck at writing the romance stuff. It's not what I do. So I don't think that this story could even possibly turn lemony with out it becoming sucky in turn. So...yeah. And I'm not into writing all that lemony stuff. No offence to people who are, but I'm not into it. I'll try to update soonish!**

**Kendra**


	24. Awkward Silences

**Howdy y'all. The fabulous Kendra will be on vacation starting tomorrow, so this is Laura, her editor, filling in and posting the next chapter. :D :D :D So ENJOY! Kendra will be back before you know it. I should know, I get to feed her cats. xD **

**DISCLAIMER: I'm not Stephenie Meyer, (Even though I met her once) Kendra's not Stephenie Meyer. I, Laura, am not Kendra, and this chapter and all previous chapters were written by her. :D Okie dokie artichokie? **

**ENJOY. :D :D :D :D **

**Mike's POV**

Oh. My. God. Cullen stole my girl.

**End Mike's POV**

**Bella's POV**

It had been a week since school had begun. Edward was spending more time with me now, which I enjoyed and craved more of. Luckily, Simon was not to be seen. School was normal, and Mike hadn't caused any problems for me; although, he seemed to still have his feelings hurt after seeing me with Edward. Poor kid, you can't help but feel bad for him.

The night that Edward had kissed me, I instantly felt dizzy from the thought, he had taken me out to dinner. When I came home late that night, Charlie had a fit. Jasper was able to calm him down, but it's still obvious that Charlie has something against Edward. I couldn't quite figure it out, but I knew I would.

"Bella?" Jasper asked from my door. He scared me and I must have jumped at _least_ a foot. I was quietly sitting on my bed rereading _Wuthering Heights _for the trillionth time; for some reason, I never got sick of the book.

"Yeah?" I said, marking the page in my old, battered, and beaten copy, and then setting it aside on the nightstand.

"I wanted to talk to you about something that's been on my mind lately…" He trailed off, still not moving from his place in the doorframe. I patted the place next to me on my bed, motioning for him to join me. He tiptoed in, swiftly closing the door behind him, as if he meant for this conversation to be a private one.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" I asked after an awkward moment of silence.

"Uh…I don't quite know how to say this, so I'm just going to throw it out there. –he hesitated a moment- You probably will think I'm crazy, but I swear this is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. You're a twin and your sister's name is Louise. She's a vampire, too, and Bella, I would love it if you became one also." I felt my jaw drop o at his blatancy. I was silent, way too stunned to speak. Jasper was acting oddly out of character.

"I shouldn't have said anything…" He murmured. "I'm sorry. You must think I'm terrible for hiding this." He turned to me, his features full of regret.

"No. It's okay. I understand completely." I assured him. "Have you met, uh, _Louise?_"

"No. But all the signs are there! I know that she's like us, she has to be. I just don't know when, how, or who changed her." He had relaxed, but his back was still straight, as if it was a sign that an even more difficult part of the conversation was approaching.

"Oh…" I muttered, still slightly wondering about the other part of his earlier outburst. Jasper matched my silence perfectly, neither of us moving, nor breathing. I was counting the seconds as they went by, waiting for his first breath to come. It never came.

"Jasper?" I asked anxiously. "Jasper, breathe!" He sucked in a deep breath, turning to smile at me.

"Sorry. I guess I just forgot." He shrugged. "It happens."

"You _forgot?!_" I cried.

Jasper shrugged again. "I don't have to breathe all the time. I just simply forgot."

"You don't have to _breathe? _Jasper, _what the frick?_" I exclaimed, my mouth agape slightly.

"None of us do. It's a plus, you know?" He smirked.

"Let me get this straight. Vampires don't have to breathe." I stated slowly, registering it all in my brain, word for word.

"Yup. But it gets sort of annoying when you don't have an accurate sense of smell."

"Wow. That's just…Wow." I said, stunned.

He chuckled, but stopped abruptly, his face turning hard as stone. No hint of humor on his god like features. "So about my other suggestion…"

I froze as well. I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to change, to be like him. I also wasn't quite sure if Edward would want me to be a vampire. What if the rest of his family didn't want me? What would I do then?

And then to find out that I have a _twin sister! _

And she was a _vampire _too_? _Why was everyone in my family turning out to be a vampire, except for me? I wouldn't be surprised if Charlie ended up being one, too, although he did eat regular food.

But then again, I did want to join my brother and possibly my sister. It would be wonderful to be like them, to _run _like them, to feel the wind in 

my air whenever I wanted to, just like they could. It would be wonderful to be able to be around Edward and his family without them having to watch themselves around me constantly. And I would be mind-boggling beautiful and inhumanly strong.

Maybe I wanted to be like them. But how would Renée and Charlie take it? Could I tell them? Would they be able to know about what had happened? I decided to ask Jasper.

"No." He said gravely. "We would fake your death. All of us would have to leave, and move far away."

Right as he spoke those words, I knew what path I would take, even though I felt terrible about it. I hadn't even consciously made the decision, and even though I knew it would hurt my parents, I knew I wanted this. Jasper would be happy, and I knew that Esme would be ecstatic, along with Alice. But I wasn't quite sure how Edward would feel about it. I would have to ask.

"Jasper, I think I would like to be like you." I said slowly. His face lit.

"Really? You do realize it would be extremely painful, right?" He asked.

I hadn't thought about that. "How long would that last? Maybe a few minutes, an hour tops?"

He grimaced. "No. Much longer than that. Three days."

"God help me, three _days?!_" I exclaimed. "Well, it can't be _that _bad."

"No. It's much worse." He said jokingly, although the grim truth was apparent under the thick layer of humor.

"Oh. Well, hey, I can handle it. I've already broken my arm since I got here. I'll live." I lifted my arm. I knew my attempt at bravado was weak, and he easily saw through me, straight to my real feeling of panic. It would hurt. It would really, really hurt. I could tell.

"That was Alice." He pointed out. I chuckled weakly.

"It'll be okay, Bella. Really." He soothed, placing his hand on my arm. "I can do it myself if it'll make you feel better."

I nodded. I wanted Jasper to do it. It seemed like I could trust him more than anyone else.

"I know it will be fine. Are the Cullen's alright with it?" I asked, not wanting to offend them in any way, although I could think of none.

Jasper's face hardened. "Most of them." I was about to prod, and ask who wasn't alright with it, but he spoke again.

"Come on. Lets go." He stated, standing up.

"Why? Where?" I asked, startled.

"Someone's coming. We're going to Edward's house so Charlie doesn't wake up." Okkkaaayyy. Thanks Jasper for all that wonderful information. Now exactly _who _was coming and _why _would Charlie wake up? Jasper's answers left a lot to be desired.

"Well come on now. Climb on." He gestured towards his back. I climbed on eagerly. I wanted to feel the rush of the wind on my face again. I had made Jasper run with me along nearly every night. He never seemed to mind, though. The one person who I _really _loved running with, though, was Edward. He was ultra-fast, and it was so exhilarating. He enjoyed it as well, but sometimes I thought that I possibly enjoyed it more. Running came so easily to them, and I wished I could run naturally like that, freely like that.

"One, two, and three!" Jasper whispered before he jumped from my window. Before I even knew we hit the ground, he was running. When we reached the forest, I screamed out in pure bliss. These were the times that I cherished. Jasper and I, out in the woods, spending time together, 

to matter how weird that may seem, was nine kinds of contentment for me. Jasper and I had always been close, but it seemed to me like since I moved here, we had grown even closer. Maybe it was because I was dating his vampire best friend…I giggled happily, forgetting that Jasper had even mentioned someone was coming, the reason for us having to leave so soon. My mind was a basin of pure bliss; I was floating.


	25. Courtney

**Hi my readers! So please, please, please don't kill me because I'm sooooo late posting this chapter! I was on vacation for 2 weeks, and then when I got back, school started in 4 days! AHHH! So you guys all know the kind of person who, like, as soon as school gets out, they buy school stuff for the next year? Well, thats not me. Anyways, I spent, like 2 days unpacking and doing laundary, 1 day reading "Breaking Dawn" and the last day school shopping. Then, school started, so I had absolutly no time to write! Believe it or not, I got homework on the first day of school. I was about ready to kill my teacher! Ugh. So when I finally got it written, my beta's internet went out. Aand then it went back on today, and I called her and got on her case to edit speedy quick, only to find out that she's sick with some crazy unknown disease, so I felt guilty. SORRY LAURA! I STILL 3 U, EVEN IF YOU DO MOVE SLOW! :D**

**RANT OVER!**

**Disclaimer: Not mine, sadly...D:**

**And finally, ENJOY!! :D**

School was so _dull. _Even with Bella there with me, it held little of my interest. I was relieved when I realized that there was only about ten minutes left of the day.

_"I suppose I should hand out the slips now." _My teacher thought sluggishly. I made a "tisk-tisk" sound with my tongue. _Someone _needed to lay off the _alcohol…_cough cough. Every day this week, my Spanish teacher had been out partying with some friends, and everyday came in with an extreme hangover. I chuckled lightly to myself.

"Okay class. There's a field trip tomorrow to Port Angels. Get your parents to sign these slips, and turn them in tomorrow in the office before school starts. Pack a lunch, and, if you have one, a cell phone." Wow. A teacher was actually _telling _us to bring a cell phone. "We will be separating on this trip into groups of six, so you all are free to decide who is in which group."

I received my slip, only to have my eyes assaulted by the hideous yellow color of it. It was so _bright. _I could see the other students cringe from it also.

"The rest of the hour is free time. You can work on homework from another class, or read. Absolutely no talking." The room was filled with muffled complaints. "I said _no talking!_" The teacher hissed, and every voice halted, mid-complaint.

The rest of the ten minutes, I doodled, having already finished all my homework. I drew Bella, reading on her bed, curled up in a ball with her hand cupping her chin; she was smiling slightly, her skin faintly flushed. When I was finished, I leaned back, admiring my work.

"That's really good." Some one whispered from behind me. I turned around. The small girl behind me smiled.

"Thank you." I replied politely, already disinterested.

_"Oh crap. He's gonna' think I've been watching him all hour! Not like I haven't…But still! That girl in the picture must be his girlfriend…" _She thought wildly. She stuck out her hand.

"I'm Courtney." She said strongly.

"Edward Cullen." I answered, ignoring her hand. She didn't seem to notice.

"Who's that?" She said, pointing to the picture on my desk.

"Bella Swan." I replied shortly. I really didn't want to talk to this human at the moment.

"I don't think I know her. I don't really know anybody here…I just moved here from Detroit, Michigan." She murmured, embarrassed at her lack of knowledge. Only now did I look at her face. Her eyes were a bright sapphire, too bright to be natural. I could see the light hint of red around the edge of her contacts. She was a _vampire. _I should have noticed it at first! The absence of a heart beat was a dead give away.

"My girlfriend." I stated, still shocked. Alice had to have seen this.

_"Huh…A girlfriend. But he _is _staring at _me_. I knew I was too pretty to resist. He has the most beautiful eyes…I've never seen gold before. Wait until Louise gets a load of this!" _I froze at the familiar name. It was all the Jasper was thinking about lately. Bella's twin sister, who he thought was a vampire.

_"Edward!" _I heard Alice scream in her mind. _"I saw Louise!! I saw her! I saw her!" _In that instant, I saw exactly what Alice had seen.

_-Vision-_

_A blonde girl was walking down a long hallway, her head turned as she spoke to the other girl, who I recognized as Courtney._

_"So let me get this straight. There's a cute guy at your new school that you like," She smiled at this. "And he's a human." Courtney nodded eagerly._

_"And he asked me to be in his group with him, during the field trip. Of course, he has a girlfriend and she'll be there, too. But he doesn't seem to flinch away from me like the other humans! I touched his shoulder on the way out of class, and he didn't even seem to mind!" She exclaimed excitedly._

_Louise frowned. "You do realize that this could never work, right?"_

_"Why not? I can control myself enough to go to school with a bunch of humans! I didn't even notice his blood; it was like it wasn't even there. He just smelled sweet. I wonder what kind of after shave he uses to smell like that…" She trailed off, deep in thought._

_"Well, you should hunt tonight, just the same. Hey," She said, suddenly distracted, "Doesn't your field trip slip say each group is allowed two chaperones?"_

_  
"Yeah…" Courtney said, not quite on the same page as Louise._

_"So, I can be one of those chaperones. For all they know, I'm eighteen. The slip says I'm old enough to be a chaperone for this trip." Louise explained._

_"Oh…Well, you're going to have to get some new contacts. Green doesn't work with the red. It makes it look too…orange. Is that weird? It shouldn't do that. Maybe, if you want to stay green, you can get a darker shade." Courtney said quickly._

_"I have some blue ones back at the house. I think that those will work best."_

_"Okay. Then I guess you're coming to school with me tomorrow! You'll get to see Edward!" She smiled hugely._

_"Yeah. Let's go hunt. If I'm going to be around the humans, I'm going to have to be ready."_

_-End Vision-_

"Crap." I muttered under my breath. Just then, the bell rang. I gathered my things and strode to the door.

_"Edward! Ask her to be in our group!" _Alice reminded me. Just then, I felt Courtney's hand on my shoulder. Swallowing my disgust, I turned around with a fake smile pasted on my face.

"Hey, would you like to be in my group for the field trip tomorrow?" I asked, my voice tight.

"Sure!" She said, her face lighting up at the offer.

"Okay. Bye." I said, totally not sounding like myself, and turned abruptly, striding out the door to meet Bella.

"Hi Edward." Bella said, reaching up to kiss me. I welcomed it warmly, reaching behind her to stroke the back of her hair.

_"Cullen! I bet I could get him in trouble for PDA on school campus…But then Bella would get in trouble, too, and I don't want her mad at me…" _Mike thought angrily as he walked out from gym. I chuckled softly and pulled away from Bella. She smiled up at me and grabbed my hand, leaning her head on my shoulder.

"So, we have a field trip tomorrow." She stated matter-of-factly. I smiled. "Have you decided who's in your group?"

"You, of course. I couldn't leave you behind for Newton to pick up." I joked. "Alice wants to come, too, and I suppose Emmett and Rosalie shouldn't be left out of the mix."

She frowned. "That leaves one empty space."

"I have that covered, too." I said slowly, not wanting to talk about it. She let it drop, noting my mood change at the topic.

"Hey Alice!" Bella shouted, waving at my sister who was walking out of the bathroom. I realized that she must have left her last class to tell me what she'd seen, since she obviously didn't need to use the bathroom. The restroom was adjacent to my last class, which would explain why she went there.

"Hi Bella." She said, joining us. "How was gym?" Bella grimaced when Alice laughed. "I saw you fall. How's your ankle?" I turned to Bella, worried. She seemed to be walking fine though.

"It's fine. It hurt earlier, but it's not bothering me now." She said, blushing. I put my arm around her shoulder comfortingly.

_"Should I tell her about Louise?" _Alice thought.

I moved my eyes slightly to the left, and then looked back to the right slowly, signaling my answer: no.

_"Okay. I'll tell Jasper first. He can tell Bella if he wants." _

I nodded stiffly. I didn't want Bella near her sister and Courtney, especially if they were feeding on humans; she just smelled so _good. _I was going to have to stay really close to Bella, just in case something happened. Jasper could come along, too. After all, we were allowed two chaperones, and with Louise already taking one of those places, Jasper could fill the other.

_"That will work." _Alice thought, seeing that I had made the decision to ask Jasper to chaperone. _"He'll be thrilled to see his sister there, even if he can't talk to her about it instantly."_

Bella smiled as I helped her into the passenger seat and walked around to the opposite door, to the driver's seat. Emmett and Rosalie were already in the back, and Alice pushed Emmett over so she could have room to sit comfortably.

_"Drop Em and Rose off at home. I want to talk to Jasper, so I can tell him about Louise and Courtney." _Alice thought. I didn't need to nod, or even acknowledge what she had said; she had already seen that it would happen.

We drove to the house in silence, besides the soft music playing on the radio. A few times, Emmett grumbled something about wanting to listen to pop, or rap, but no one really paid him much attention. Alice had already informed them when we entered the Volvo. Emmett and Rosalie got out when we reached the driveway and ran towards the house quietly. I did a rapid U-turn, not even swerving an inch off the road. Bella gasped from the sudden velocity, and I slowed, not wanting to frighten her.

"So, it says on the slip that we need two chaperones for the field trip tomorrow." Alice said suggestively.

"Should I ask Charlie?" Bella asked, turning to me.

I shook my head. "No. I was thinking about asking Jasper to come. Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah. It'll be kind of cool to have Jasper there. More fun." She smiled.

"Uh huh." Alice said softly from the back seat.

_"Jasper is going to want to stay close to Bella the whole time that he's there. Louise will get suspicious. Courtney will be around you the whole time, and when Louise comes over to meet you, she's going to realize that you don't have a heart beat." _Alice's panicked thoughts came from the back seat. _"Edward, this isn't going to work!"_

"It'll be fine." I muttered under my breath. Bella didn't seem to notice.

_"Exactly how do you expect it to work out? She'll know our secret!" _

"We'll just have to deal." I murmured, turning my head as if I was looking out the window to direct the sound away from Bella.

_"Alright." _Alice thought after a moment. _"If they reveal us, we'll reveal them."_

**Yay! There we go! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE review! I need to know if you guys all hate me and the story. (Plus, maybe some positive reviews for my beta, Laura, would make her feel better! :D)**

**Kendra**


	26. Charlie's Surprise

**Hey everyone! Sorry that I haven't been updating a lot lately. I got sick, coughLauracough, and I missed school and then the computer crashed and blah blah blah. So yeah.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

**EnJoY!!**

"Louise?" Jasper asked, bemused.

"Yeah. I saw her. She'll be there tomorrow." I answered.

He sighed. "Alright. I think I should tell Bella afterwards. Maybe she'll figure it out for herself, but if not, I'll have to explain it. She'll be upset if I don't." I leaned forward and gave him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek.

"I'm sorry. I know this is all hard and really confusing. I just wish I could take all of it away." I murmured softly. He chuckled.

"No you don't. Way too much emotion." He joked weakly. "You defiantly _don't _want to be me."

"But I defiantly want to be _with _you. Always remember that. Don't let all of this pull you down." I said, pulling back and staring him straight in the eyes.

"I know. Now let's go. Charlie will get suspicious if I'm not home soon." He smiled, standing and holding out his hand for me. I took it and bounced up to his side effortlessly.

We ran out to the car, muttering "goodbyes" over our shoulders.

"Let's take the Diablo." I said, rushing to the driver's side door.

"You know, Charlie hates when we drive the _expensive _cars." He said, jogging to the passenger side. I stuck out my tongue at him.

"Whatever. It's _yellow _and _fast. _Who can resist?" I mocked. Jasper had said the same thing when I bought Trixie.

"Stop naming our cars!" Edward screamed from inside. "Wait up! I'm coming with you!" Five seconds later Edward was in his Volvo, which I called Susan, and racing beside us down the wet street to Jasper's. Mud splattered his windshield from my back tires skidding on the road and I giggled at Edward's face in my rearview mirror.

"Bella! I'm home!" Jasper yelled from the front door. "Where are you at?"

"I'm up here!" She replied. I could tell her voice was coming from her room.

"Is Charlie home?" Jasper asked as we entered her room. It was clear on her face that she only expected to see him here.

"No. He stopped over by Billy's. When he called, he said he had a surprise for me when he got home. I smiled excitedly and attempted to look ahead in Bella's near future to see what this "surprise" could be. Charlie had absolutely no idea what he was doing. Someone hive that sucker the "Father of the Year" award! Let's have a round of applause for Charlie Swan!

Edward turned his head at my sarcastic thoughts.

"_Get her out of the house. Now!" _I thought urgently. My teeth were clenched down tight, grinding down. What else could possibly go wrong in Forks? Oh, wait. I already knew what else could go wrong; what else _would _go wrong.

"Uh, Bella? I was wondering if you wanted to maybe go to dinner? I know a good place in Olympia." Edward said. Bella's eyes narrowed.

"How would you know if it's _good?"_ She asked skeptically.

"Er…I mean, I've _heard _that it's pretty popular amongst some kids at school." Edward recovered lamely. By now, Jasper knew something was up.

"Yeah. Let's all go. You must be dying to get out of the house." He added, playing along. Bella was silent for a moment, but then she shrugged.

"Alright. Let me just call Charlie and let him know." She said, reaching for the cordless phone.

"No, no. That's okay. I'll call him from the car. Let's get going before it gets too busy." Jasper said, grabbing Bella's jacket from her closet.

"Okay…" She agreed suspiciously. "Let's go then, I guess." She grabbed Edward's hand and walked out from her bedroom.

I sighed. "What's up?" Jasper asked me, standing in front of me now.

"Charlie's surprise for Bella. Not good." I muttered, rubbing my forehead.

"Well, I got _that_." He hissed. I took a step back from his vicious words. He took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. It's just stressful. Bella's getting nervous; we didn't follow her down. Let's go." He apologized, kissing my cheek. I smiled slightly and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"Headache?" He asked me as we strode down the steps. I nodded. "I'm sorry. Will it be better soon?"

"About fifteen minutes, I think. I can't be sure. Everything's really fuzzy at the moment." I murmured, rubbing my temples and shutting my eyes, letting him guide me down the steps and to the car.

"Tell me if it doesn't go away soon, alright?" He said.

"Sure." I muttered, climbing into the car, letting Jasper drive. I leaned back and tried to focus when I suddenly gasped.

"Call Edward NOW! Tell him to turn around! I'm serious! Oh God. We should have stayed back. Poor Bella. He'd better move fast."

**Hehe…CLIFFY! I like to leave out important info. Funness!! Anyway, flames, as you all know are welcome. I really could care less if you guys think it sucks, but it is nice to have a view from someone other than the people who say things like, "Great story! Awesome! Update ****soon!". I mean, don't get me wrong, I love those, too, but if you catch a flaw, let me know! :D**

**Kendra**


	27. Safest Place

**Hey everyone. Now, I know everyone is really confused. I got PMs and stuff saying why. So I have an answer. I am not fully stopping this story. I was just saying that I was "holding" it becuase I won't be posting as much as I would normally be. I'm just posting when I can, okay? So I don't want to lose readers over this. I'm really sorry if I upset anyone. D:**

**Disclaimer: Not mine! :D**

**Enjoy!**

"Why?" I screamed into the phone. "What's wrong, Jasper?!"

"I can't talk now. Just listen. Turn around now, wherever you are, and go to the house. This is serious, Edward. A real Code Red. I have to go. Get back to the house ASAP. Bye." Jasper hung up on me.

"Jasper!" I screamed out in frustration.

"What's wrong, Edward?" Bella's face was pale.

"We need to go now. I'm not sure why. Jasper won't tell me why." I said as I pulled a U-turn quickly.

Bella screeched, her hand flying to her neck.

"Sorry. That was a bit fast." I apologized.

She let out a gust of air, rubbing her throat.

"It's okay. I'm fine." She assured me. I reached over and placed my hand behind her head. She smiled slightly.

"Charlie's going to be upset that I'm missing his surprise. I wonder what it was." She sighed.

"Yeah." I agreed.

"Where are we going?" Bella asked.

"To my house. Alice saw something bad. It's safest there." I said.

"Okay. Did Jasper call Charlie?" She said.

"I would imagine so."

"Uh huh. As long as he knows that we'll be out of the house, I think we won't come home to too much of a rant." She nodded to herself.

"Oh, a rant!" I joked, trying to lighten the mood. We were almost to the house.

"What shall we do?" She grinned.

"Don't worry. I'll protect you from _Charlie." _She giggled.

"Thanks."

A few minutes later, we arrived at my house. Alice's Diablo was parked ahead of us. I could smell that the wheels were still wet; they had only beaten us by about five minutes or so.

I cut the engine and jumped out of the car into the faint drizzle of water falling from the sky. I ran to Bella's door and opened it, pulling her out and carrying her to the door; she didn't even have time to protest.

"ALICE!"I screamed once we were in the door.

"Here." She said, flashing to the small black square on the wall. She clicked "Close" and the metal wall slid out, covering the glass. She swept across the room to double lock the door.

"What is going on?" I asked.

"Louise. Hunting. This area. She's smelled Esme, said she's curious. He and Courtney are coming this way." She said, locking all the windows and closing the curtains.

The whole family came down to join us in the living room.

"They're here." Alice whispered after a moment. We all gathered together in the center of the room, blocking Bella from view from all angles.

A simple knock on the door announced their arrival. I felt myself growl simultaneously with Emmett and Jasper. This was bad.

**I know it was short, but like I said, a lot of my chapters are going to be few and far between. To avoid you all getting bored, I can write a bunch of short ones. I can space them out. Okay? :D**

**Kendra**


	28. Newborn?

**Hey guys! I'm baaack! Sorry it's taken me like, so long to update any of my stories but I've a wreck. So much homework (thank you to the stupid advanced classes that I signed up for!) and there has just been so much drama in my life! Ugh! But I'm sure you all can understand. (If I even have any readers now. ********) But anyway, here's a new chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Okay, I am still not Stephenie Meyer, and I doubt that I ever will be. I suppose I'll get over it…eventually.**

**Enjoy!!**

I blinked, looking from behind Jasper's shoulder to try and see anything that might allude to what was happening outside of the wall that they all had rapidly formed around me. My breath caught as I spied the handle on the door shake, as if someone was struggling to open it.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" I heard a tinkling voice ask from behind the door. All seven vampires' breath caught at the words.

"Come on, Louise. I can hear them. Just kick open the door." Another voice said. Louise? So that's who was here. I knew that Alice said something of that sort, but she was speaking so quickly that I thought for sure I had misunderstood.

Suddenly, everything around us was engulfed in a familiar glow of blue and purple. Focusing closer now on what I recognized as Lillian's sphere, I saw the faint swirl of colors. It reminded me of watching a washing machine on a spin cycle.

A swift whistling passed by my ear as Lillian abruptly appeared at my side, her hand fully extended and pointed at the ceiling; she was still as a statue.

Edward turned quickly and exchanged an anxious glance with Carlisle. He nodded and Carlisle sighed, moving from his place in the circle. He looked briefly over his shoulder at Lillian and for a moment, the force field flickered. Before I could even see that Carlisle had moved, he was on the other side of Lillian's barrier. Slowly, he walked towards the front door.

"Who is it?" Carlisle called.

Silence. Then, a muffled, harsh-sounding conversation came from the front porch. I could not hear what words were exchanged, but everyone in the room seemed intent on listening.

Finally, the voice which I assumed belonged to Louise answered. "We mean no harm. We are merely curious. I picked up your scent as we were passing by."

Hesitantly, Carlisle turned back to us. Alice nodded tensely and he turned to unbolt the door, letting it swing open.

"Hello." Carlisle's voice was strained.

A petite brunet in the doorway stood. I vaguely noted her as familiar, although I couldn't place from where I had seen her before. But I could not keep myself from gawking at the beautiful blonde girl beside her, tall and graceful, although she did not move. Her pale skin contrasted strikingly with her scarlet eyes. I gasped silently as I took in the resemblance between us. Her lips were slightly uneven, the top too thin to match the full bottom. Her hair, although it was not at all similar to my darker brown, was the same wavy texture as mine. Suddenly, Edward shifted, cutting of my view.

"Hello." The smaller vampire greeted cautiously. She glanced nervously at her companion.

An awkward silence filled the room. I turned my head minutely to look at Lillian and was startled to see that she was staring at me, too, gauging my reaction.

"I can't see." I mouthed. She smiled, seemingly at ease, and reached, with blinding speed, for my good arm. Grasping my hand, she heaved me onto her back, crouching slightly so that I was only a few inches above Edward's head, peering at the strangers in the entrance way.

"Welcome to our home." Esme said, cutting through the thick silence.

Louise raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "Home?"

"Yes." Esme nodded.

She smiled. "How ironic! We live a short run from here. Maybe six or seven miles!"

Esme's mouth popped open in surprise. "You _live _here?"

"Yes." The brunet said. A shocked silence covered the atmosphere like a thick blanket.

"Well, then." Esme said. "Welcome to the neighborhood." She took a step back and returned to her place beside Emmett.

Again, it was quite. Louise looked quickly over her shoulder as if considering running. My attention was drawn away from her face as I noticed the other's girl's brow crease.

"Edward?" She said, shock written in her voice. I tensed, glancing at the back of Edward's head. How did he know this girl? I felt my heart beat start to accelerate as I considered the possibilities.

"Hello, Courtney." I could see the muscles in Edward's neck tense as he spoke. So her name was Courtney. I tried to remember where she fit in my memory, but I could not.

Every head in the room turned to Edward's face when he responded. Jasper's jaw visibly locked, and Emmett leaned slightly forward.

"Edward?" Louise hissed at Courtney. "_That's _Edward?"

Courtney shrunk back from the harshness of her voice. She nodded and Louise hissed again, long and menacing.

"You idiot!" She raised her hand is if to hit her, but decided against it and turned her head away, rudely dismissing her. Courtney's head hung in disgrace, wearing the expression that I imagined a high ranking officer might wear when they just discovered that they'd been demoted. **(Yeah I know that's similar to what was in Breaking Dawn regarding Cauis, but I couldn't think of a better way to describe it.) **I was beginning to think that I didn't like the person my sister was turning out to be.

"Please, lets just all relax. Now can we talk this through?" Carlisle said. His voice seemed more composed than it had before; he was under control again. The room was filled will mumbled answers, none of which consisted of the two strangers in the doorway. "Good. Now, please, come in. We'd like to discuss the situation. Edward? Bella? Jasper? Would you please go out to the garage and get my notebooks?" Edward nodded stiffly and turned quickly, brushing my hair in front of my face and taking me from Lillian's arms. Jasper appeared beside us, and, blocking me from view, ran with Edward through Lillian's flickering wall, into the kitchen, and out the back door.

"Let's _go!_" Edward urged, passing the garage in one swift stride; Jasper fell behind, ever so slightly with each step away from the house.

"No, Edward. We have to stay." He said. Edward growled. I caught my breath and he looked down at me, an apology in his eyes. I tried to smile reassuringly up at him; it wasn't very convincing. His eyes tightened.

"As much as you know I hate to have Bella near them, it's the only way. Come here. Please."Jasper said. Edward stopped running and turned around, obviously agreeing with whatever Jasper's logic was. I still felt like I was three steps behind.

They jogged to the garage, not as quickly as before, and Jasper pulled up the garage door. I was not surprised by the vast selection of expensive cars before me; I had expected that. Jasper bolted to a self in the back of the garage and Edward flew to the right hand wall, setting me down on a white marble counter there. Jasper came to stand before me with a power box of light white foundation.

"We have to make you look like one of us. I just need you to stay still for one moment." I did as I was told and with in thirty seconds, Jasper had covered my whole face, neck, and arms in the dust. I sneezed and Edward chuckled, although I could still tell that he was nervous.

"Put these on." Jasper said, handing me a small white box. I raised my eyebrow at him. "Red contacts." He explained. "You're going to be the newest addition to our family. Or at least, you'll pretend to be."

"She's going to be a _newborn?_ But why can't we just give her gold contacts?" Edward asked, confused.

Jasper shrugged. "Her eyes are too dark. They won't lighten it."

"Oh. Then why not black?"

Jasper frowned. "We only have red for her, alright Edward? She's going to use these."

"That's okay, Jasper. I can use these. I know how to put them in. Give me a minute." I ripped open the package and popped them in. I blinked rapidly, clearing my sight and letting them settle into place.

Jasper smiled at me and held out his hand, helping me down from the counter. "Very nice. I don't think they'll notice. Edward, take her up to your room. You two can stay up there, okay? That way she'll be out of sight and they won't have time to become suspicious."

"Okay. Are you ready, Bella?" Edward asked, turning to me. I nodded. "Let's go then." He took my hand as Jasper ran back to the shelf in the back of the garage and grabbed two black spiral notebooks before joining us. We walked at human pace back to the house.

"Here, Carlisle." Jasper said, handing Carlisle the notebooks as we entered the living room. He, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett were seated on the couch. Courtney and Louise sat opposite of them, occupying the small loveseat. Alice was leaning on the back of the couch, her head in her hands, rubbing her temples. Lillian stood in the corner, her arm tense and coiled, ready to release her sphere at any time.

"Thank you, Jasper." Carlisle said, distracting me from the two unfamiliar vampires that stared at me. Edward tensed and pulled my hand. We walked swiftly to the steps, although I still kept eye contact with Louise and Courtney, wanting them to confirm my eye color, to believe that I was like them. Lillian caught my attention as she lowered her hand and placed it on the glass beside her; her feet barely left the ground. The difference was so slight that I wasn't even sure that it had happened. I turned my eyes away as we ascended the stairs.

Once we were safely inside Edward's room, I realized what Lillian had been doing. A soft glow emitted from outside Edward's window, although the shape that it represented was all wrong. A square seemed to match up to the side of Edward's window, small and compact, but big enough for a few people to fit comfortably. Edward pulled me toward it. The shape flickered quickly during the final step that would carry us into it and before I knew it, we were inside. The shape was much larger inside. I saw clearly now that it was not really a square, but an elongated rectangle.

"Careful, love." Edward said, pulling me back from the hole in the center.

I felt my eye's widen as I fully took in the floating excuse of a room. "I…I thought Lillian could only cast circles."

"Apparently not." Edward said, sitting down and pulling me into his lap. I curled up there and hugged my arms around myself. It was chilly outside.

I laid there for a moment before speaking. "But she said that she's always in the center of her…shape." I said, trying to think of the right word and settling for that.

Edward chuckled. "She is. Do you see that gap?" He said, pointing to the center of the glowing mass. I nodded. "She's directly below that. It's extending into the ground."

"How do they not see it?" I asked incredulously.

He was quiet for a moment, reading what she was thinking, I assumed. "It's conforming to her body." He breathed, astonished. "Amazing…"

"Wow. So she's in here with us? She can hear us?" He nodded. "Thank you, Lillian!" I called. Edward laughed.

"She can't say anything- they would see that- but she says 'You're welcome.'" He said, relaying her thoughts for me.

"So did they buy it? That I'm a newborn and all." I asked, suddenly worried, although I knew we were safe inside Lillian's barrier.

Edward nodded. "They were a bit startled but they seem to believe that you are, in fact, a vampire." He shivered slightly. "You do look convincing, though." Misreading my silence for doubt.

"When do you think they'll leave?" I inquired, curling into his side slightly more.

"I'm not sure. Carlisle is explaining to them how we…feed. They were curious about how we've managed to stay under the radar for so long. They plan to try and reside here permanently as well." I yawned and he smoothed my hair. I took his other hand and pressed it to my lips, kissing him softly. Suddenly, my position shifted and I was in the air. Before I could scream out in panic, the blue and purple silhouette sputtered and Edward was back, catching me in his arms. He held a dark navy blanket which he wrapped around me snuggly.

"Sorry about that, love." He whispered, laying me down on the shimmering surface of the floating rectangle. He laid down beside me, draping his arm over my shoulders. Slowly I caught my breath and felt my heart beat gradually quiet. Edward began to hum an unfamiliar tune, soft and sweet, and I felt myself being pulled down into the comfort of sleep.

**Okay, that's it. 2,225 words. I hope you liked it. If anybody reads this, post a review, okay? I'd like to know if people are still interested in this even if I haven't posted in like, forever.**

**I still love all you guys!!! :)**

**-Kendra**


	29. Fall

**Hi again! So I guess by the lack of reviews that I received, there aren't too many people that are interested in my story anymore. I mean, I got two reviews, and 56 hits! Seriously people! But then, I guess it really doesn't matter. As long as I know some people are reading it, and at least two people (amobutterfly25 and Alyssaloves) cared enough to actually take the time and say something, then I'll probably keep writing. Although that's not to say that it's not a disappointment for me.**

**I'll shut up and give you the chapter now. :/**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own it.**

**Enjoy, I guess.**

_**(EPOV)**_

As I laid with Bella in my arms, I unexpectedly felt a shiver run through her body. I cringed away from her, worrying that I was making her too cold. I was surprised when her eyes fluttered open, wide with shock from my sudden movement. She rolled too far over, coming dangerously close to falling into the open space in the floor.

She gasped, twisting her neck to see behind her. Coughing, she attempted to sit up, her cheeks flaring from embarrassment; the momentum from the movement set her off balance. Before I had time to think to act, she screamed out, falling into the opening.

Down below us, I felt the whole house stiffen.

"_Edward! She fell through! Get down here! She collapsed on top of me!" _Lillian shouted at me through her thoughts. The whole barrier vanished and I leaped from my place in the air, landing safely inside my room. I sprinted down the hallway, obviously too slow for Lillian, as she shot up a straight, flat rectangle covering the stairs; I slid down, landing lithely on my toes.

To my right, Bella was curled up inside a orb, cast out by Lillian's other hand. She looked uncomfortable; the shape was no bigger than a small closet floor.

Removing the makeshift ramp from the steps, Lillian shot out a wall between my family, myself, and Louise and Courtney. Engulfing herself in a circle of her own, she floated at least two feet above the ground, her eyes burning, her hair splayed out around her face.

"_They know. They saw. She's a human and they know." _Her livid thoughts rolled off of her, waves of heat coursing through my mind. I wondered what had brought on this sudden wave of hostility.

Waving off the thought and glancing at Bella, I saw that she was crying, tears streaming down her face. She looked frightened and confused, and almost guilty. It was pitiful to see her in such a state. I wished for nothing more than to comfort her, although I realized that there were much more pressing issues for me to handle at the moment.

Louise and Courtney were crouched, low and defensive, as close to Lillian's wall as they could come; Emmett growled fiercely.

"_Let's just attack them!" _He thought eagerly. _"I can take them both, with one hand tied behind my back!"_

I shot him a warning glance, telling him to cool it. He just rolled his eyes.

Louise began to speak from behind the barrier, although we could not hear her. Her mouth formed angry, threatening words. My family looked at me, waiting for an interpretation.

"_Let us out of here, now!" _She commanded, staring every one of us in the eyes. _"I will NOT stand for this!" _I hurriedly relayed what she had said.

Emmett snickered. "Then sit down!" He laughed, tossing his head back at his own joke; no one else expressed the smallest hint of amusement.

"Lillian, let them out, but keep Bella inside." I instructed. "And would it kill you to give her a bit more room? She's crammed in there." I added, pointing to the curled shape just off the ground. For a moment, she did not move, except for the slight twitching of her right hand fingers, expanding Bella's bubble. Although she did not relax, Lillian withdrew her wall, flicking her fingers back over her shoulder.

Louise jumped, launching herself at Bella. I took a step forward, ready to intercept her in mid-air, but Lillian beat me to the punch. Suddenly, Louise was trapped again, this time inside a crammed cylinder, held at least four feet above the ground. Her arms were pinned above her head, having no room to hang by her sides in the small encasement.

"_Let me out of here!" _Her enraged thoughts screamed at me. I shook my head and she glared menacingly.

"Courtney?" I asked smoothing, trying to keep her from attacking as well; she was afraid, but not hostile.

She looked at me warily.

"You're not going to attack us, are you?" I asked softly, attempting to calm her down. She shook her head at me, her hair whipping across her face. "Good."

"Lillian is going to put Louise down." I said, eyeing her. "I need you to restrain her." I said, turning to Emmett. A wide grin spread across his face.

"Can do." He nodded, flexing his arms.

"Lillian, put her down please." I requested. She roughly released Louise, not bothering to lower her to the ground first; she fell with a loud thump.

Emmett was behind her in an instant, holding her arms behind her back, his hands acting like handcuffs.

"Let. Me. _Go!" _ She ordered, straining against his arms; Emmett didn't budge. "Courtney!" She called in distress, turning to her companion. She shook her head, turning her eyes to the ground. "_Courtney!" _She demanded again, without a response. Her expression quickly shifted into one of disbelief.

"I think you should leave now." Jasper said, looking as though he was losing his cool. I nodded in agreement.

"_Wait…" _Carlisle thought. I sighed inwardly.

"Courtney, you can stay if you'd like." He said quickly. When I turned to glare at him, he explained hurriedly. _"You saw the way that Louise treated her. It's not healthy for her to be in that kind of a situation. I'm sure it's not too much of an inconvenience to have her here with us for awhile." _

Courtney's eyes widened. "Really?" She asked, shocked. Louise hissed quietly.

**Sorry this is so shortish but it's all I've had time to write. Why is it that when we're so close to the end of the year, all the teachers decide that now is the excellent time to slam us with unimaginable amounts of homework?? It's breaking my binder! Seriously. Ugh.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys liked it. Leave a review, please! I don't care if you absolutely hated it. I'd just like to hear from you guys! Haha.**

**Kendra**


	30. Welcome

**Well, hi you guys. :) Wow, how long as it been since I've updated? Wait, don't answer that. You might hate me if you knew. Haha. But anyway, since I'm home sick today, I figured I'd have some free time. And I do, which is nice. Normally, I'd be taking a nap, but I feel bad about leaving you guys hanging, so here it is. :)**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, even after all this time, it's still not mine. :(**

**Enjoy!**

"Really." Carlisle said, a faint smile on his lips.

Louise's eyes bulged as Courtney took a tentative step forward. "Courtney, don't you dare!" She warned, struggling against Emmett's arms.

Courtney shot a glance at her, fear in her eyes. "You won't let her hurt me, will you?" She asked quietly, turning back to Carlisle.

Esme sucked in a gasp. "Has she hurt you before, sweetie?" Outrage flashed in her eyes.

"Never!" Louise screeched, kicking at Emmett's shins. He grinned at her and stood his ground.

Courtney bit down on her lower lip for a moment, contemplating. _"If I answer truthfully, Louise will kill me. If I don't, she'll…probably still kill me." _She shook her head slowly, trying to clear away her indecision.

Louise hissed and Courtney's head snapped back to Esme's face. "Yes. Yes she has." She whispered. Louise shouted a long list of profanities at her, flailing in Emmett's hold. Courtney's eyes grew wide in terror as she stumbled away from her. "Please, please don't let her touch me!" She cried, cowering behind Esme.

"Shh, sweetie. It's alright. She won't hurt you." Esme reassured her, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly.

"Emmett, please get Louise outside." Carlisle said. Emmett nodded and tugged her toward the door.

"Courtney, you have a choice right now. If you want to stay here with these…these _losers _then be my guest." Louise said as Emmett pulled her away. He stopped for a moment, letting her speak. "But don't come crawling back to me when things don't work out for you. Then again, you might all get along. You seem to be the loser type, too. I don't know why I wasted my time with you." Louise spat, venom lacing her words.

Jasper tensed beside me as Rosalie's temper flared. I was surprised; she didn't normally stand up for anyone.

"_I can't believe she just said that! That little b-" _I stopped listening to her as I realized where her thoughts were going. I wasn't particularly fond of swearing.

Rose flashed forward, standing beside Courtney. "Louise?" She said sweetly.

"What do you want?" She growled, shifting her gaze from Courtney to Rose. "Oh, gross. What's wrong with your face?" She laughed.

Rose's jaw tightened slightly, but she kept her face straight. "Hey, Alice, what was that saying that you told me a few days ago?" She asked, smiling a bit.

"Rose's are red..?" Alice said, playing along and gesturing to Rosalie's red sweater.

"Oh yeah." Rosalie grinned, turning back to Louise. "Rose's are red, violets are blue. God made me pretty, what the hell happened to you?" I laughed internally as Louise sputtered for a response, her eyes practically flaming from her rage. Embarrassment flooded her features as Rose wrapped her arm around Courtney's shoulders smugly.

"Welcome to the family, sister." She said, smiling at her. Jasper gapped at her. It was out of character for her to be so accepting.

"Take care of that, will you Emmy?" She dismissed Louise with a flick of her wrist.

"Sure thing, baby." Emmett said, winking at Rosalie. "I'll just go take out the _trash." _

"Oh, bite me!" Louise exclaimed.

"Ew, bite that? No thanks." Emmett blanched, pretending to vomit at the thought. He dragged her out the door and into the woods, returning a few seconds later.

"She's going to get me for that." Courtney said meekly.

"No she won't. She'll come after me, and I can hold my own." Rosalie assured her, patting her shoulder and smiling down at her.

I shook my head and glanced at Lillian. "Now that Louise is gone, can I have Bella back?"

**Well that's all I can really write at the moment. I'll try and get another one up as soon as I can. I hope maybe some of you have noticed a difference in my writing. I've been enrolled in a Creative Writing class at my school for a few months now and I'm wondering how much it's helping. **

**Comments? Feedback? :) I'll still love you all anyway, even if it sucks. :)**

**Kendra**


	31. Fine

**Okeydokey. :) That's another chapter. Ah, good times. So much juicy drama coming your way soon, courtesy of…well, me. :)**

**Disclaimer: Not courtesy of me! :)**

**ENJOY!!!**

"So what do we do now?" I asked Edward. We were curled up on his couch and I was playing with a strand of his hair.

"Honestly? I'm not sure." He said, catching my hand and pulling it to his lips, kissing it quickly before releasing it.

I sighed softly. "Well my sister turned out to be not so nice, and now there's a new vampire staying in your house. I don't really know what else could happen today." Edward rolled his eyes at me and groaned melodramatically.

"Oh, dearest Bella. Whatever shall we do? The sky must be falling to cause such an uproar!" He rolled over and pulled me onto his chest, cradling my face in his hands as I giggled. "Don't worry about any of this. You're going to be fine; I'm going to be fine. Everyone is going to be fine." He assured me, kissing the tip of my nose.

I smiled at him and rested my chin on his shoulder, inhaling his sweet scent. I felt myself relax as he stroked the back of my hair soothingly.

"I know everything will work out." I told him. "I just can't help getting anxious sometimes."

"Maybe you just need to sleep." He suggested, running his thumb along the dark circles forming beneath my eyes.

"I don't want to sleep." I protested.

"But you _should. _It's not healthy for you to try and deal with everything that's going on without enough sleep."

"I'll be fine." I told him, stifling a yawn. He seemed to notice and he narrowed his eyes at me slightly, but didn't press the issue. "So what time is Charlie expecting me home?" I asked, changing the subject.

Edward sighed. "Soon, I'm sure."

"Well then I guess we should get going." I said, starting to sit up. He tightened his arms around me, holding me to him.

"Bella, I can't go with you. I have to stay here." He said, his voice strained.

"Why?" I whispered.

"Charlie is still planning on carrying through his…surprise."

"So then why can't you come?" I asked.

"_Because_ of the surprise." Edward's face was drawn.

"Well then I guess I'm not going back either." I told him stubbornly.

"Bella, you have to-" He began to protest, but I cut him off.

"Edward, no. I'm not going back if you can't come with me. Something is wrong and you aren't telling me. You're obviously upset about whatever is going on and I'm not going to go. You can't make me. And if you really need me to go, you need to tell me what is going on." He sighed and closed his eyes. I fought against his arms, trying to sit up, but he didn't seem to notice, so I resigned and relaxed back on his chest.

After a moment, I started to get anxious. "Edward…" I said, touching his cheek. I sighed. "If it's really that important to you, I'll go. I just wish I could know what it was I was walking into that could have this effect on you."

"Bella, you don't understand. I wish I could go with you, but I _can't._ Truly I cannot. And I don't want to put you in a situation like this, but what else can I do? I have no choice." His voice was strained and when he opened his eyes, they were a hard onyx. I blinked in surprise, but let it pass. There were too many unanswered questions, but now was not the time to ask them.

"Edward, what is going on?" I whispered. "You can't keep me out of these things. What don't you have a choice on?"

"Charlie's surprise is a young man he met while he was at work." He looked at me, gauging my reaction. I kept my face straight as I digested this.

"_Ryan!" _My brain shouted at me. I felt my heart beat pick up and panic begin to enclose my throat. Ryan was back. Ryan was going to come after me. Ryan was going to kill me. He was going to hurt me.

Edward's eyes grew wide as he saw my reaction and paired it with his words. "No, no. Not him. It's not him, Bella. Calm down. You wouldn't even be this close to your house if it was him."

I took a deep breath to calm myself. "Who is it then?" I asked hesitantly.

"Simon. Do you remember him?" He searched my face, probably expecting me to freak out again. But I didn't. I was in control of myself this time. I wasn't worried about this Simon guy.

"How did he meet Charlie?" I asked.

Edward's expression hardened. "He was waiting in the woods outside our home. Stalking you, in a way. He has this…'crush' on you. He wants to steal you from me, make you love him." I rolled my eyes at him, but he continued. "When Emmett and Rosalie went hunting, he overheard them talking about you. Don't worry, he doesn't know you're human, but he caught your name. As it turns out, you're the only Bella in Forks. He found you registered at the high school and then found your father through there."

"He found Charlie? He knows I'm his daughter?"

"Yes. He thinks that we changed you, but Charlie doesn't know. When he went to the station to meet him, he told Charlie you were old friends from Arizona and he was surprising you with a visit. He thinks that when you moved here, you were already a vampire and that we had changed you when you were in Arizona, and that we had to move you back here with us so no one would be suspicious." He explained. "So you need to go back to your house and 'meet' him. But you need to pretend like you are a vampire. Jasper can go back with you, but I can't. I know that we would get in a fight if I were to be in the same room as him. So Jasper will keep you safe, but you need to do this so Simon will stay away."

"And Simon just expects everything to go smoothly with this?" I laughed quietly to myself. "Isn't he going to hear my heart beat?"

Edward shook his head. "Not if you stay a few feet away from him. Simon has no sense of smell, and his other senses are weak as well. We'll cover your skin with some pale cover-up that won't be too noticeable to Charlie, and you'll be fine. You're eyes are dark enough to pass for a vampire who hasn't hunted in a few days. He'll never notice."

I bit my cheek for a moment, contemplating. I knew that I would be safe if Jasper was there with me, and I knew that I needed to do this. It would keep me safer in the long run, and make things a heck of a lot easier for Edward. I didn't want to cause unnecessary problems for him. "Alright, I'll do it." I agreed. "But I won't like it."

"I know, Bella. Neither will I. But it has to be done. Now, when Charlie introduces you to him, you need to pretend like you know who he is. Can you do that?" He asked me.

"I think so. But, wait. What about my cast?" I asked.

"It'll just be a prop, to make you seem more human. You can tell him that your arm isn't really broken, but Charlie thought that it could be, so you're keeping it on to reduce suspicion. He'll take that as a valid reason. But as long as you can act like you know Simon, everything will work out. Alice saw that you will get a chance to talk to Simon without Charlie in the room so you can tell him that you aren't interested. Hopefully, he'll back off." Edward said, grinning at me. "Let's go get this over with."

* * *

Sitting in the Volvo, idling in my driveway, I felt confident. I knew I could go in and convince Simon that I was a vampire and that I wasn't even slightly attracted to him. I was Edward's mate and he would have to deal with it.

I leaned over to kiss Edward swiftly before climbing out of the car. Jasper pulled up behind me and I waved at him, my arm glimmering with the slight gleam of the body glitter that Alice had applied.

I was ready.

**Well, Bella is ready. Are you? I'll do my best to get a chapter up, but it IS a holiday. So this can be your Thanksgiving treat, from me to you. **

**:) Your loving writer,**

**Kendra**


	32. Acting

**Ah. I'm getting better about posting chapters, yes? :) I'm trying. And it's a long weekend, so I have some free time. See how much I sacrifice for you guys? Haha. Oh well. It's fun for me, too.**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I'm still not SM. I'll learning to get over that…with lots of therapy. ;)**

**ENJOY!!**

"Bella!" Charlie exclaimed as I opened the front door. I frowned and looked around the room.

"Where are you, dad?" I asked, although I could hear the television in the other room. I was acting, and I was doing fairly well. Jasper walked to my side and shut the door.

"I'm in the living room. Is Jasper with you?" Charlie yelled.

"I'm right here." Jasper said as we walked around the corner. Seated on the couch opposite Charlie's chair was a tall, pale man. He smiled when he saw me and Jasper flinched beside me.

"Simon!" I exclaimed, surprising the blonde man. Since I knew to look for it, I could clearly see a rim of scarlet around his green eyes; he was wearing contacts.

"Bella? Is that you?" He said, playing along. Simon stood and crossed the distance between us. "It _is _you! How have you been? I've missed you so much."

I grinned. "I've been fine. But what about you? When did you get here?"

Charlie coughed from his chair and I took the distraction eagerly. I didn't like the way that Simon was staring at me, like I was something that he was looking to purchase. He looked away from me to Charlie, an irritated expression on his face. He crossed his arms over his black T-shirt and flexed his biceps a bit, glancing at my reaction out of the corner of his eye. I ignored him and made my face pleasant as I looked to Charlie.

"Simon stopped by the station today. He said he wanted to surprise you. Isn't that great? He's been here for awhile; I wasn't expecting you to be going out for dinner." Charlie's voice was a bit resentful towards the end; he was probably expecting me to cook. I could smell the take-out Chinese food from the kitchen. I wondered how Simon had gotten away with not eating.

"That's fantastic! I can't believe you're here, Simon. It seems like forever." I gushed, faking enthusiasm. Jasper winked at me and I stifled a giggle, surprising myself. I wasn't worried about my safety since Jasper was with me, and I was actually having fun pretending for Charlie. "And I'm sorry. I was planning on cooking, but Edward called and invited me out. I knew you were at Billy's so I figured you'd eat over there."

"Who's Edward?" Simon wondered out loud, his eyes burning for my answer. I knew he knew who Edward was, but I also knew that my answer to this question would mean more to him than anything else. It would determine how hard he thought he had to work to win me over.

I smiled sweetly at him. "Oh, just a family friend." I said nonchalantly. His eyes narrowed.

Everything was quiet for a moment until Charlie seemed to pick up on the awkward atmosphere. "Well, I guess I'll let you guys catch up a bit." He said uncomfortably, shifting uneasily in his chair.

"That's a great idea. Do you want to go for a walk, Bella?" Simon asked, a glint in his eyes.

"Sure!" I agreed. "You want to come too, Jasper?"

"Of course. Let's go." He said, grabbing my arm and lightly tugging me to the front door again.

"Hang on. Let me go get a jacket." I said, turning to the steps and almost colliding with Simon. He grinned and stepped to the side. I ran up to my room and grabbed my jacket from the back of my rocking chair and raced back down the stairs. "Okay, I'm ready." I told them, unlocking the door and stepping outside.

We walked in silence until we were far away from the house. Once we were a safe distance away, I stopped and turned on Simon.

"What do you want?" I spat in his face.

He blinked in surprise. "To talk to you." He said. "Without _him."_ He jerked his thumb towards Jasper.

"Well, sorry. He's staying. And I don't want to talk to you. So I guess you're out of luck." I told him.

His expression changed abruptly. "Oh, honey, I don't have luck. I make it." He said.

"So what exactly do you and your 'made-up' luck want?" I asked, forming quotations in the air with my good hand.

"I already told you. I just want to talk to you." Simon took a small step forward, his hands out in front of him, begging. I felt my resolve waver. Could he really be such a bad guy? Maybe he _did _just want to talk to me. And I was being extremely rude to this man that I didn't know a thing about. Guilt washed over me and my face softened.

Jasper stared at me, panic in his eyes. "No." He mouthed, shaking his head slightly.

I froze. I was being ridiculous. Alice, Jasper, and Edward had all told me about him. Edward had told me that Simon wanted me to love him, and not Edward. I wasn't going to let myself be swayed by him. Edward wouldn't lie to me; Simon was obviously a very good actor to make me second guess the situation.

"And I already told you that I don't want to talk to you." I said firmly.

"Why is that?" He asked, his eyes hard. "Did _Edward _tell you that you couldn't?"

"No!" I exclaimed. "I don't want to talk to you because you're a pig and I know what you want. I'm not interested."

"_What? _For such a pretty girl, you don't have much going on up there, do you?" He insulted, clearly offended himself. I frowned. I was sick of jabs at my intelligence! I wasn't going to put up with it, especially from Simon. I didn't need to take the abuse from someone who didn't even know anything about me.

"For such a pretty guy, you don't have much going on _down there, _do you?" I suggested, raising my eyebrows.

Simon stared at me, fury in his eyes. He seemed to stop moving completely, except for the occasional breath. His eyes still locked on my face, he took another step forward; I held my ground and glared right back at him.

"Pretty, pretty girl. You have no idea." He growled. "But you could find out."

I flushed and turned to Jasper, hiding my cheek with my hair. I looked at him meaningfully, trying to tell him that it was definitely time for Simon to leave. He locked eyes with me and raised his chin confidently.

"Simon, it's time for you to go. Don't come on our land. Don't go on the Cullen's, either. Things won't end well for you. No one is pleased." Jasper's threat hung in the air, unanswered, but not ignored.

Simon turned and walked calmly away. After we heard his car drive off, I sighed. "Did that go well?" I asked Jasper.

He looked at me seriously. "No." He said. I felt myself get nervous again, and I jumped as I saw a hazy shape in the trees. I nearly screamed in fright before I recognized who it was.

"It went better than 'well'." The shape said, crossing the road to stand with us.

"Edward!" I sang, running to his open arms.

"He won't be back for quite some time. His ego is badly bruised." Edward chuckled, holding me close. "I was worried, so I stayed close." He whispered in my ear, stroking the back of my hair.

"I'm glad you did." I murmured back. Jasper gagged and I turned around, sticking my tongue out at him.

"Okay, okay. Enough lovey-dovey. Let's get back." Jasper said.

"I'll meet you upstairs." Edward said as he released me and ran back into the woods. I sighed and walked back to the house with Jasper.

Before we even closed the front door, Charlie asked where Simon had gone.

"He had to leave suddenly because of an urgent call about a family emergency or something. He told us to tell you that he was sorry, and that it was nice to meet you." Jasper lied.

"Oh. Okay." Charlie said, sounding a bit disgruntled as he returned to his baseball game.

I yawned hugely, drawing his attention. "I think I'm going to head to bed, Dad. I'll see you in the morning." I said, waving and turning back to the stairs.

"'Kay." Charlie said, leaning back in his chair.

"Have fun." Jasper muttered to me as I passed him and I pushed him playfully, pausing only for a moment before I continued to my room.

Just as he said, Edward was sitting at the end of my bed. I grinned to see him and pulled him to lay down on the bed with me.

"Sleep, Bella." He ordered, covering me with the quilt.

"But I have to change…" I began to say before yawning again. My jaw cracked and tears filled my eyes from the enormity of it. "Never mind." I mumbled, curling up in his side.

"I love you." I whispered after a moment, kissing his neck.

"I love you, too." Edward said, a deep emotion burning in his voice. I smiled and pressed myself closer to him before I felt myself fall into the comforting darkness of sleep.

**Who's my favorite readers?? You guys!!! So please, review. It'll make my day! Please? :)**

**Kendra**


	33. Nightmare

**Hi again! Sorry I haven't updated but there was school and sports and blah blah blah. So…I'm updating now. Yay! Haha. It's kind of short, but I was working on a AP World History project/report when I wrote it, and I have to get back to it. Procrastinating doesn't do much for my high school career. Haha.**

**Disclaimer: Alas, 'tis not mine. Thou art wasting thy time with these every chapter. :)**

**ENJOY!**

"Edward…" Bella mumbled beside me. I smiled and brushed the hair away from her cheek; she was still asleep. I felt a surge of happiness fill me when I realized that she was dreaming about me.

"Edward!" She said, louder. I froze. This wasn't a pleasant dream by the sound of her voice.

She screamed and shuddered. "EDWARD! HELP!" She cried. I shook her shoulder, trying to wake her and free her from her nightmare.

"Bella!" I whispered urgently. "Bella, it's alright. I'm here. You're safe. Wake up, please." She blinked rapidly, shrinking away from me when I touched her shoulder. I cringed, but fought away the pain. I knew she didn't mean it; it was common behavior for a human when they were exiting a nightmare.

She shivered and screamed again. I heard Charlie wake up.

"Shh, Bella, shh. You're going to make Charlie check on you." I told her, sitting up and preparing to leave. Charlie was leaving his room; Bella's screaming had alerted him. I sighed and touched her arm, ignoring her when she instinctively pulled away. "I'll be back." I said softly. I pulled away from her and jumped out the window, darting to the trees beside the house.

"Bella!" Charlie exclaimed inside the house. I heard him rush to her bed and shake her roughly, jolting her awake. After her breathing slowed, he asked her what had happened.

"Just…just a bad dream, Dad. Go back to bed. I'll be alright." She said hoarsely, clearing her throat. I frowned. I'd have to remember to bring her a glass of water.

Charlie must have decided that going back to sleep was a good idea, because the door closed a few seconds later.

"Edward!" Bella whisper-called.

I jogged to the side of the house and scaled it to her window before jumping inside. "Yes?" I asked, flashing to her bedside and taking her hand.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Why did you leave?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Charlie was coming to check on you. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She said, laying her head down again.

"I'll be right back." I told her, holding up one finger before I darted soundlessly out of her room and down to the kitchen, filling up a glass of water and dashing back up the stairs. Bella smiled and took it gratefully, gulping it down. I sat on the edge of her bed, my hand on her knee, waiting for her to explain her dream; she didn't. I was about to press the issue, but she yawned and I hesitated. Her clock read 3:24, and I realized that she must still be tired. I decided to let her go back to sleep before I asked her about it. Hopefully, she would remember in the morning.

"Go back to bed, Bella." I told her, smiling at her and taking her now empty glass. Almost instantly, she closed her eyes and sighed, falling back asleep. I frowned, and realized just how tired she must be. I had to remember to make sure she was getting enough sleep. It was difficult to remember sometimes since my family and I never had to make time for rest, but I would have to find a way to not forget.

But for now, I would let her sleep.

**Okay, and sorry again that it's so short. I tried, but I'm busy. Christmas break is coming up in a few weeks and I'll probably be able to update more then. Hope you all enjoyed it! **

**Please, review. I really wish more of you would give me feedback, and I hate begging for reviews, but I honestly don't care about the number of them. I just want to hear from you all. You can PM me with any questions, too, if reviewing is not something you like to do. I just want feedback! :)**

**(And thanks to those who did review with their questions! I was happy to try and help, but most of them will be explained as you continue reading and the story goes on, so I don't want to give away too much.)**

**Kendra**


	34. Choices

**Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukah! Happy Kwanza! And all together, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!**

**I hope you all weren't too torn up without me. Midterms and all of the other stuff in my life have been hectic, but I think I'm surviving. Possibly. :) But you aren't here to read about MY life, you're here to read about the **_**fascinating **_**life of Bella and the Cullens! So read on!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyers. This is just my spin on her series "Twilight". **

**ENJOY!!**

I sighed and crossed my legs, picking at my lunch. My arm was bothering me again, but it wasn't unbearable. Carlisle promised that since it was healing quickly, I could have it off today after school if I traded it for a sling. I was glad to know that I would be able to move it more freely, if only minutely, once it was out of the bright orange cast that I was currently growing sick of.

Edward wrapped his arm around my shoulders and hugged me to his side as Alice gushed about her upcoming shopping trip. The field trip had been cancelled due to the fact that our teacher was out with the flu, so she suddenly found herself with a new, open chance to torture me. I shuddered silently and forced myself to eat. I knew I should have been starving after skipping breakfast, but I was surprisingly not. I really didn't feel like eating. I just wanted to get my cast off, and then get home.

Before I knew the time had passed, the lunch bell rang and we were on our way to class. The rest of the day passed in a blur and I finished my homework easily in class. School was becoming too simple as the teachers realized the end of the first semester was quickly approaching. I knew that they didn't want more papers and worksheets to grade as their stress limits increased with upcoming midterms and report cards. In fact, most of them seemed to be utterly exhausted. I wondered how many problems they had in their lives and doubted that it amounted to any of those in mine.

Even then, I couldn't force myself to feel even remotely sorry for myself. Things may have seemed bleak and tense to anyone else, but I was sure that the clouds that had formed in my sky would soon pass. I was so certain of this only because of the beautiful boy who held my hand at that very second. Edward, my Edward. Nothing was wrong in this world as long as he and I were together. And so I could not find even an ounce of will power to compel myself to be dragged under by the bad things. I would stay afloat and one day, we would make it through all of these struggles.

I laughed quietly to myself as I thought through all of these things. I couldn't see why I was suddenly seeing my life so clearly. But truthfully, everything was right with me, and sitting on that big, sea-foam green patient's bed in the hospital, I realized and appreciated that.

Carlisle worked over my arm, removing my cast. I smiled at him and then at Edward beside me, squeezing his hand and lying my head against his stone cold shoulder that was oddly comforting to me.

We were out of the hospital in no time and Edward dropped me off at my house. Charlie was home from work, but I didn't mind. It was relatively late, anyway, and he had already gone out for dinner with Deputy Mark. I excused myself for bed quickly and found Edward waiting for me in my room. I checked my email but only found a short one from Reneé. I responded swiftly and then climbed into my bed, falling asleep in Edward's arms.

_Two months have passed; Bella's arm is out of her sling and she and the Cullens are beginning their fourth quarter of school._

"Jasper?" I called as I shut the front door. I had just gotten off of work at the Newton's store.

"Upstairs!" He shouted back. I dropped my stuff by the door and walked up the stairs, watching my feet.

"Uh, where up here?" I asked when I reached the top.

I heard him laugh. "My room." I rolled my eyes and walked down the hall, opening his door.

"Hi." I said, shutting it and going to sit on the end of his bed. He was lying on his side, reading a book.

"Hey. What's up?" He asked, shutting it and setting it on his nightstand.

I took a deep breath. "I have something I think we need to talk about." I told him, biting my lip.

Jasper frowned. "What's wrong? Why are you anxious?" I felt a sudden wave of calm hit me like a brick wall, but I did not resist it like I knew I could; I welcomed the feeling. I would make this talk easier.

"Well, I'm not anxious _now."_ I joked, smiling a bit. His frown deepened. I laughed shakily and then sighed.

"Bella, what _is _it?" He exclaimed after a moment, the urgency still in his voice.

"I just…alright, fine. This is difficult, so I'm just going to get it out there. I'm tired of waiting." I gushed. "I'm tired of getting older, and I'm tired of being the odd one out. I'm ready to change, to be like you. I don't think I could be any readier than I am right now, actually. I want it, and I think I can handle it. I don't care about the pain and I know we can find a way to deal with Charlie. I am just tired of waiting for this. I want to start my life, and to stop wasting my time." I blushed but kept my eyes glued to his face. He didn't seem upset like I expected Edward to be; that's why I had decided to have this talk with Jasper, instead.

A few minutes passed before a sudden, brilliant grin lit up his face. "Really?" He exclaimed.

"Really." I assured him, nodding vigorously. I had thought this over for a long time and I was sure of my choice.

"Fabulous! I'll let Carlisle know immediately." He said, still smiling hugely. "Don't you dare tell them first, Alice." He muttered under his breath.

"Yeah. Don't you dare, Alice." I agreed, smirking at the thought. Alice would see this, I was sure. She'd be itching to tell everyone, but I knew she wouldn't go against Jasper's wishes. "Oh, and don't think about this around Edward!" I added quickly. "I want to wait and tell him myself."

Jasper laughed, long and loud, and I felt relieved that _he _seemed so relieved.

"Would you be willing to wait until after school is finished? It would make this easier, and probably give us a lot more time to plan." He said, the hint of a smile still lingering in his eyes.

"Sure. But after graduation. I don't want to wait much longer than that. I'm ready."

"Of course, of course." He reassured me, reaching over to pat my knee. "This will be great! I'm so excited." I felt myself smile at him again as he spoke. It was strange to see Jasper so happy, but I liked the change. If something as simple as telling him what I had known for months had brought him this much happiness, I felt myself begin to feel guilty for not telling him sooner. But I could not go back in time and change my mind to tell him before now, so I would have to live with him being happy now. It wasn't hard to accept.

"Come on. Let's go see the others. Charlie is going to Harry's after work so we can be there for awhile. We'll go let them know." Jasper said, jumping off the bed and grabbing my shoulders, slinging me onto his back and leaping out the window in the same second. And then we were flying, and my thoughts were slammed to the back of my mind as I took in this big, fast, and fascinating world that I looked forward to entering into myself. And then, I wouldn't just be along for the ride. It would be _my _time.

**Well? I wanted to go into more detail with the whole cast-off-the-arm thing, but I know absolutely nothing about it, so I just kind of skated over that. :) It turned out alright…I think.**

**Let me know????**

**Kendra**


	35. Accepting

**Hey guys. Happy New Year! First update of 2010. :) You all are lucky I could even get up today after the party I went to last night. :)**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. :)**

**Enjoy!**

**EPOV**

I frowned at Alice from across the room, narrowing my eyes and trying to see past her evasive thoughts. It wasn't easy; she had more practice at hiding things from me than she should. She laughed at my expression and went back to translating show tunes from English to German in her head.

I was suddenly pulled away from my annoying sister as Jasper's presence entered my mind, followed by Bella's scent. Sufficiently distracted, I jumped to my feet and sprinted outside, anxious to see her again.

"Edward!" Bella called to me as she and Jasper broke through the dense line of trees at the edge of the forest. I grinned at her and ran to meet Jasper half-way, catching her from his back and pulling her into a tight hug.

"Why are you here?" I asked her, setting her on her feet, but keeping her hand. She was suddenly uncomfortable, looking away from my face to Jasper's. I turned to him, expecting an answer, but he ignored me, his thoughts centered around Alice.

"Come on." Bella said, tugging me toward the house. I followed willingly, curious. She didn't usually make surprise visits like this, and I was suddenly unsure. I knew Alice had seen something, something that she felt the need to hide from me. Could it have something to do with this?

"Everyone?" Bella called, and she jumped as my family abruptly appeared before her.

"Bella!" Emmett boomed. "I thought I smelled you!" He swept her up in a hug and spun her around in a circle before releasing her back to me.

She grinned at him. "Hey, Emmett."

"Bella has something she'd like to discuss with us all." Jasper said, crossing the room to stand beside her, Alice practically bouncing with excitement next to him. My family turned to her with probing eyes and she blushed. Without speaking, she walked to the couch and sat down, pulling me with her. As everyone took a seat, she took a deep breath.

"These past few months, I've had a big decision facing me." She began, and I tensed automatically. So that was what this was about… "And, I know what my choice is." A low growl vibrated deep in my chest, and she glanced my way. "I will not be swayed on this, either. It is far too important." She looked away again and I clenched my hands into fists, grinding my teeth.

After a moment of silence, she continued. "I want to be like you all. I want to be a part of your family. Forever. And I don't want to wait any longer. I'm ready to join you all. I hope that you'll accept my choice, but I've discussed this with Jasper and I know he will be willing to help me if you all are not."

I stood, and stared at Jasper, his guard falling down, revealing the talk that he and Bella had had. My eyes widened at his reaction to it, although I couldn't help but feel a small part of me, rejoicing in the same way. Shocked, I looked further, examining the feeling and shoving my anger aside.

I _did _love Bella, without a doubt, and I wanted her to stay with me forever. I was thrilled to know that she felt the same way. It was only my fear of losing her that made this path that she'd chosen so difficult for me to accept. If I could get past that…I frowned internally. The only way that I would ever trust someone with Bella like that would be if it was myself who changed her, and I wasn't sure if I could do that.

Another, even smaller part of my mind told me that I could. No question about it. I would find the control. It wouldn't be easy, but I would not allow myself to become a risk to Bella.

In a brief moment of faith, I embraced the tiny parts of me and sat back down, nodding at Jasper. Bella grinned up at me and grasped my hand tightly, leaning up to kiss my cheek.

"When?" I asked her, relaxed now.

"After graduation. I don't want to wait much longer after then."

"Alright." I sighed, moving my arm to drape it across her shoulders, drawing her closer to my side.

"You're okay with this?" Bella asked.

"Yes." I assured her, stroking the back of her hair.

"Woo hoo!" Emmett cheered. Esme smiled fondly at him and then at Bella.

"Well, I guess we have some planning to get started on." Carlisle announced, clapping his hands together and standing. Jasper nodded at him and rose, too. They made their way up to Carlisle's study.

Alice squealed. "Oh Bella, this is fantastic! You're going to turn out excellently!"

"You can see me?" She gasped.

"Of course." Alice shrugged.

"Alice, you _have_ to show me." Bella's face lit up with excitement.

Alice smiled and dashed up the stairs, returning quickly with a large piece of white paper and her art supplies. She set them on the coffee table and sat on her knees, getting to work.

Bella looked to me, anticipation burning in her eyes. I grinned at her, glad that she was happy. As I looked into her eyes, I saw myself reflected there. All my love and adoration, and, surprisingly, my protectiveness, was doubled. And suddenly, I couldn't help myself. All of these things hit me at once, and I kissed her, my mate. There was no way to deny that.

I pulled away too soon, as always, when Alice cleared her throat. "I'm finished." She stated, holding up her work.

A dark forest scene surrounded the woman in the forefront of the drawing, and a few rays of light shinned through the tree tops, reflecting off of her skin. But I couldn't focus on these things as much as the woman herself. I distinctly recognized her as Bella, although there was definitely a change. She was taller--not by much, maybe an inch and a half--and her hair was slightly longer. But, framed by her creamy pale skin, two crimson eyes shone brightly. I flinched and struggled to focus on the rest of the picture. I was shocked to see the detail that Alice had included. The future Bella's white dress blew slightly in an imagined breeze, but the fabric was torn and stained scarlet with the blood of a drained elk beside her.

I forced myself to look away from the paper and to glance at Bella. She was staring fixedly at the drawing, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Bella?" I murmured, stroking her cheek.

She didn't answer.

"Don't you think you could've picked a better moment to draw for her than the first hunt?" Rosalie snapped at Alice. I glanced at her; it was the first time she'd spoken. Alice bit her lip and looked at Bella.

"You…you mean I won't _always _look like this?" Bella whispered.

"Of course not." Rosalie told her. "I can't believe you showed her _that, _of all things." She hissed at Alice. "Bella, honey, can you honestly look at us and think that you will be so different?" Her tone was suddenly soft again and I tilted my head at her.

Rose shrugged. _"What? I don't hate her. And…even though I think that she's making the wrong decision, I'm not going to give the family anymore negativity. She's my sister now and I'm going to start treating her like one." _She thought. I smiled at her and sighed, relieved that she was accepting Bella. Although Bella was not really sure of their relationship, I was confident that things would work out between them.

"Well…yes. That's what I thought." Bella said, embarrassed.

Rosalie laughed and smiled at her. "Don't worry about it. I promise you'll be stunning."

The two girls shared another smile before Emmett announced that Bella was going to have to go after something better than elk her first hunt.

"Better than elk?" Bella asked him, curious again.

"Definitely. Maybe we can take her fishing." He joked at me.

I growled. "No sharks."

"Sharks!" She exclaimed. "I can't hunt a shark!"

"Of course you can." Emmett laughed. "If you can catch one."

"I'm not much of a swimmer." She confessed, blushing.

"You'll learn." He told her, grinning again.

"Okay, no more ideas." I cut them off. "Come on." I told her, grabbing her hand and leading her to my room.

"Edward?" She asked me when we sat down on my black, leather couch.

"Yes, love?" I relaxed as she stretched out, resting her head on my lap.

She hesitated. "Don't let Emmett teach me to swim with sharks."

I laughed. "You won't be scared of them when they're swimming away from you."

She rolled her eyes and snorted.

"What?" I asked, the hint of a laugh still lingering in my voice.

"I just can't imagine a shark tasting good. At all." She laughed.

I leaned in close to her ear. "They don't." I chuckled at her disgusted expression.

"I knew it. I think I'll be eternally sick of fish after cooking for Charlie so much."

"I'll take you to get something good. Maybe a mountain lion or two. I think you'll enjoy those." I suggested and Bella giggled.

"How about I don't hunt and just stay here with you?" She asked.

"_That _can be arranged." I murmured, shifting so that she was draped across my chest as I took up most of the couch.

"Mmm." She sighed, and closed her eyes, snuggling into my shoulder.

"Anytime." I added, kissing her hair.

"Tonight?" She asked quietly.

I shrugged. "I'll have Esme call Charlie and set it up."

"Really?"

"Of course." I told her. "Esme?" I called.

"On it!" She replied.

"See?" I said, smiling down at Bella.

Instead of answering, she grinned at me, and kissed me.

"You, Edward Cullen, are _so _much better than any shark." Bella told me after I pulled away.

"And you are a thousand times better than any mountain lion." I smiled, and she sighed contently, closing her eyes. I started to hum to her, and within seconds, her breathing slowed and I knew she was asleep.

**Hope you liked it! Anyway, you all may have noticed I went through and deleted all those old, icky chapters that were only A/N's, except for the Appreciation chapter. Always good to go through and make everything organized, right? :)**

**And I know that Rosalie hasn't really been in this story much, but don't worry. I like her too much to leave her out of it. :)**

**Kendra**


	36. Defenses

**Okay guys, here you go. Another chapter. :)**

**Disclaimer: All belongs to SM!**

**Enjoy!**

**JPOV**

In Carlisle's study, I finally felt the weight of everything crash down on me.

This was really going to happen.

How could I think straight when I suddenly had all these worries? How would I be able to control myself enough to change her? My own sister? What if I couldn't find the will to resist? I hated myself for feeling the need to ask Carlisle or anyone else to take care of my own sister.

My head started to spin with the added pressure from my own emotions. I wasn't used to feeling just my own. Carlisle was already engulfed in his own work and he was nothing but curious. I was overwhelmed by stress and anxiety, this time only coming from me. My shoulders slumped and I found the will to walk to Carlisle's side.

After a few minutes of clearing my head and mildly commenting on Carlisle's ideas, his mood shifted. I was taken off-guard and felt myself swept into this unexpected demeanor.

"Carlisle, what is wrong?" I spit, gripping the table to keep myself in place.

He shook his head slowly, as if he was trying to clear it of a bad thought.

"Carlisle!" I demanded, forcing myself to focus on Edward's emotions that radiated faintly through the house. I was immediately calm and I released the desk before I crushed it.

I forced Edward's emotion out from myself, stretching it through the air, to cover Carlisle's golden aura. Instantly, he straightened and stared at me, worry unmasked in his aureateeyes.

"What?" I finally asked again, my voice less harsh.

"I…I don't understand. I don't think this will work, Jasper. I don't think the change is going to effect her like it did us." He finally whispered.

"Of course it will. Alice has seen it. She turns out just fine." I assured him, my voice persuasive.

Carlisle shook his head again, a few strands of his blonde hair falling away from the rest, hanging in his eyes. "Jasper, you have to understand. Your power doesn't effect her. Alice thought she was just immune to your power because she was so used to it, but how does that explain why it still works with us when we have been with you for nearly as long? It doesn't add up."

"But my power can effect Bella, if she lets it. But what does this have anything to do with the transformation?" I bit my tongue, still unsure of what exactly he was getting at.

Carlisle narrowed his eyes at me. "I wish you would have shared that information with me earlier. Although I'm still not sure. Alice can see her future, but I don't know if that is quite definite, either. Alice's and your power are physical, and if Bella can manipulate your's --resist it or welcome it-- doesn't that make you think that she could possibly do the same to Alice's? And we know that Edward can't read her mind, but has she ever tried to let him? It might work." He began to pace the room as I stood there like an idiot, my mouth hanging open.

After I had gathered myself enough to speak, I asked him again what this had to do with the transformation, although I had a fairly good idea of where he was headed with this.

"Jasper," he chided, "you have to see it. Your power, as well as Alice's, are physical, as I just said. Edward's is mental. So what if Bella can block both physical and mental 'attacks' on her body? The change is a very physical 'attack'. I think that she could block it as well."

"But if Alice can still see her, and I can still change her emotions, don't you think that she could accept it in? It would work then, if all of this is true." I offered, thoroughly snapped out of my shock.

"It is a possibility. But who would be able to force themselves to endure that amount of pain? This will definitely take some more research on my part." He mused, rubbing his neck.

An idea popped into my head and before I could think it through, I blurted it out. "Maybe you should call Eleazar."

Carlisle turned to me in a flash. "What?"

"Maybe…you should call Eleazar. Maybe he could help. He knows more about things like this than we do." I repeated, my voice quieter.

He froze, the same expression locked on his face. He thawed a few moments later. "Hmm…I think I might do that. But let's not worry about this. We have time to figure it out. No need to cause unnecessary distress." He patted my shoulder as he passed me and left the room.

Slowly, I dragged myself to the soft leather chair in the corner of the room. It creaked as I sat and it adjusted to my weight.

Thanks to Carlisle's epiphany, my mood was completely shifted. I felt like my head had spun 360° and I was left dizzy and confused. I released Edward's emotions and sagged, resting my head in my hands. I couldn't believe that this might not work. I couldn't recall any case in history where a human had been unable to be changed, but I couldn't force myself to believe that it was impossible.

So was there really that small a chance of hope? Could I really be forced to lose my sister? Forever?

**Alright. Whiplash, anyone? :) What will happen? Will Bella join the Cullens in ****immortality** , or will she be forced to stay human until she dies?

**Well...don't look at me. I'm not telling until the next few chapters are posted! :)**

**Look for them soon!**

**Kendra**


	37. Hugs

**Here's another chapter! :)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! :) :) :)**

**Enjoy!**

**BPOV**

I woke up more comfortable than I had been in awhile. I yawned and opened my eyes warily, adjusting to the unusually bright light shinning in my eyes. I glanced around me and realized that I was lying on my stomach next to Edward on the couch in his room. My heart fluttered when I remembered the afternoon before, and how well it had gone.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Edward teased me, touching the tip of my nose with his finger.

I smiled, and he shifted, pulling me off the couch and setting me upright on my feet. I clutched his shoulder for support until I gained enough balance to stand on my own.

I kept his hand, hiding my blush from his observant eyes, and let him lead me to the kitchen.

"Good morning, Bella." Esme greeted me from her place in front of the stove. I smiled at her as I took a seat at the giant island in the middle of the room.

"It smells delicious in here." I complemented her, sniffing the air hungrily.

Alice, perched on the kitchen counter top, stared at me. _"That _smells _good?"_

I nodded vigorously, my mouth watering.

Esme laughed and set a plate in front of me, and I was suddenly too distracted to pay attention to the next comment that Alice made.

"That was amazing. Thank you, Esme." I sighed, leaning back in the chair and closing my eyes. I had thought that my cooking was good, but after this breakfast, I was forced to admit that it was definitely mediocre.

Esme patted my shoulder and took my plate, washing and drying it before I could even think to object. A grin slowly spread across my face at this small act of maternal kindness. I was used to doing everything for my mother. It was disorienting to have the roles switched, although I had to admit that the change was nice, almost warming.

Surprising myself, I stood and walked to her side, wrapping my arms around her. I had been expecting her to stiffen or reflexively pull away like the others, but she instantly turned and hugged me back. This hug was different, seemingly more meaningful, than any of those that Renée and I had shared. Abruptly, I felt complete. Whole. There wasn't a good enough word to describe the feeling.

"Woo!" Emmett called from the living room, making me jump. "Group hug!" I craned my neck around to see him come charging towards us, grasping Edward from behind before leaping over the island and knocking Alice off of the counter, pulling them both toward us, too. I gasped as they slammed into us, Emmett winding his long arms around all five of us. He lifted us into the air and then set us down again, sighing and shaking us slowly back and forth.

And then I couldn't help myself. I burst out laughing at this giant man who acted so much like a child.

I knew then, if I had had any doubt at all before, that I was going to love being a part of this family.

**Sorry it was so short, but I didn't have a lot of time today. Hopefully, even though I'm going back to school tomorrow, I'll be able to write more. And I'm taking a few blow-off classes this semester, like Student Aiding, so I'll probably have less homework and more time to update.**

**Probably.**

**:)**

**Kendra**


	38. Grief

**Hello my readers! I've missed you all. I'm so sorry I haven't updated, but even the best struggle to balance life all the time. :) I hope you all can forgive me for being slow. Again. :)**

**So this is short, but it is just a short snipit of the upcoming chapter. I decided I would throw this out there while I finished writing the whole thing.**

**Disclaimer: Even a few weeks could not make these characters mine…sorry. :)**

**ENJOY!**

**It's been a few weeks and everyone is gathered at the Cullen's.**

"When will it be over, Jasper? I'm tired of waiting!" Emmett cried, overcome by a sudden streak of boredom, mixed with his- and everyone else's- anxiety and anticipation.

"Emmett, you have to be patient. Don't you know it's always three days? We can't rush this." I replied, tired of his questions. It had only been an hour and everyone was already bouncing off the walls. That was, of course, everyone except Edward. He was still upstairs. I could here his shallow breathing in between strangled cries that tortured me every time they sounded. I sighed and hung my head in my hands. I had to sympathize with Emmett. I wasn't even sure that I could make it through this whole ordeal.

Alice laid her hand on my knee. "Do you want me to get Rose to take him out somewhere?" She whispered in my ear. I nodded slowly. She stood and walked listlessly to the kitchen where Rosalie was.

I focused on clearing my head. I couldn't believe that I had allowed myself to do this. I internally cursed myself. I slouched in my chair and tried to keep myself together. This would all work out fine. I knew Edward wasn't happy with me, but he would get over it. Maybe this would be a blessing in disguise. I knew Carlisle was keeping a close watch, so it was possible that there would be no pain if he had been successful with his morphine theory. I had to think positive, even if I couldn't clearly see the good in the situation.

_"It's fine."_ I thought to myself._ "Everything's going to be fine."_

**Alright guys. I'll get back to finishing the whole chapter.**

**Prepare yourselves!!**

**Kendra**


	39. Mistake

**Okay, second post today. :) Well, first full post. Whatever. :) I hope you all like it.**

**Disclaimer: Again, not mine.**

**Enjoy!**

**Edward's POV**

I ran my hand through my hair, thoroughly stressed out. I couldn't believe what Jasper had done. Like I needed a newborn on my hands while I was trying to make plans for Bella. At least he hadn't slipped when he was near her. I didn't know if I could control my anger if that happened.

But now we _did_ have to make the decision of what to do with the girl who lay on the bed in front of me. She was in obvious pain and it was difficult for me to watch over her when she laid broken and bleeding, but I didn't trust myself to be in the same room as Jasper at the moment. So I watched over her.

And even though I was trying to deny any sorry feelings for this girl, I had to admit to myself that there seemed to be an odd pull that made me stay as well. Of course it wasn't the same as what kept me tied to Bella. It wasn't even close. But there was a part of me that felt like I had to keep her safe, to keep her out of pain, although the latter was impossible. The transformation was guaranteed to be extremely painful. I winced at the thought, remembering my own personal three days in hell.

A light knock on the door downstairs drew my attention away from the helpless girl before me.

"Is everything alright?" I heard the voice at the door ask quietly.

_"Bella."_ I breathed in relief, recognizing her voice. Her surprise appearance broke my attention away from the suffering girl and I dashed down the stairs.

I caught a small grimace on Alice's face as she looked at Bella who was staring back out the door as Emmett waved goodbye from the passenger side of Rosalie's car.

"Where are they…" She began to ask before she turned around and saw me. "Edward! What is going on?" She exclaimed. I walked to her side and shut the front door as she took a step inside the house warily.

Neither Alice nor I answered her for a few moments, partially because we couldn't seem to find the words, and partially because we didn't want to frighten her with the situation.

"No one was answering their phones and we had plans today…I got worried so I decided to stop by." Bella explained hesitantly. "I can go if it's a bad time." She sounded hurt, but I couldn't be certain because she turned her face away from me dejectedly.

"Bella, honey, something's come up." Esme said, appearing from the kitchen.

I saw Jasper stiffen from the corner of the room, but I could not will myself to feel pity for him. I knew it was a tendency of mine to over react and get too angry over little things, but this was not one of those situations. I refused to think of it as a minute matter. I was not ready for him to scare Bella away with this now. I was too close to keeping her forever. I knew I would not force her to stay, but every ounce of me would die inside if she decided to leave when she recognized the dangers at hand.

"What kind of 'something'?" She asked, her calm tone seeming to be somewhat forced.

"I made a mistake." Jasper said without moving."Jasper?" She said, shocked. "What's wrong?" She crossed the room hurriedly, kneeling by his side, worry etched in her perfect features.

Jasper shook his head slowly, trying to shake away the terrible memories filled with guilt. "I lost my control…" He whispered, raising his head slightly, as if he was trying to make eye contact with his sister, but couldn't seem to find the strength.

Bella gasped and looked back at me, her eyes wide with fresh panic. "What happened?" She breathed.

"A girl was out in the woods while I was hunting and I couldn't….I couldn't control myself. I bit her." He confessed quietly, stumbling over his words.

"Jasper!" Bella scolded him. I couldn't keep myself from smiling at her tone. She wasn't frightened, only worried about Jasper and the poor girl.

"He was able to stop himself, Bella." Alice assured her. "But the damage was already done."

It took Bella a moment to understand. "You mean she's changing?" Her mouth opened to form a small O of horror.

I nodded. "She's upstairs." As if on cue, a small scream echoed down from the stairs.

A few minutes passed, and Bella didn't move. I braced myself for her decision to leave. She couldn't possibly want to stay after this. When she moved her eyes to me, I held my breath. My heart burned to know that I was going to lose her.

To my surprise, she stood, crossed the room and took my hand.

"Can I see her?"　

**Ahahaha! I fooled you all! :) Now tell me, how many of you expected THAT? I've been waiting to write this chapter since I started this story. It's fun to throw you guys off. :)**

**Kendra**


	40. Worried

**Hello again, my lovelies. :) Here's another chapter for you.**

**Disclaimer: Do I still have to put this here? Not mine.**

**Enjoy!**

"Can I see her?" I asked Edward. I struggled to keep my face clear of any emotion.

His eyes widened. "I don't…" His voice was strained and he didn't finish his sentence.

I didn't know why I even asked to see the changing vampire. I couldn't even lie to myself and say that I had a good, reasonable answer. I simply felt like I _had _to. I could feel it in my gut, pulling me toward the stairs. And even though I knew it was probably just my imagination, I couldn't resist the nagging urge.

"Edward?" I whispered, squeezing his hand softly.

He was still for a moment, not breathing. "No."

"But why?" I pouted, jutting out my bottom lip a little.

"Just no, Bella." Edward's pleading eyes flashed to my brother. "Jasper, tell her no."

He shrugged slightly. "I don't see a problem with it. It couldn't hurt."

Alice nodded. "She won't be dangerous until the change is complete. Bella should be able to see her. It isn't fair to keep her out of this."

I anxiously took a step toward the stairs, but Edward's glare made me step back.

"No." He repeated, his eyes glinting with anger.

"Edward." Esme warned. He turned to her, betrayal on his face. They stared each other down, and I sensed that they were communicating, that Esme was working to convince him to let me go.

He sighed, and turned to me, calmer than before. "Alright." He allowed. "But you are staying next to me the whole time." I nodded and walked to the steps, pulling him along with me.

Edward didn't rush me as he usually did. He actually seemed to be walking slower than I was, which made it much more difficult to control my unexplained eagerness to see this mysterious girl.

After I managed to drag Edward all the way up the stairs, I paused. I had no idea which room she was in. But before I could ask, Edward tugged my arm to the door on the right, the guest room that no one had used.

Before now.

He opened the door slowly, poking his head inside before he moved to let me inside. As my foot crossed the doorway, a small cry emitted from the darkness. I jumped, but steadied myself, searching along the wall until I found the light switch.

A girl lay on the bed against the south wall. She was tall, and her bronze hair, although it was tangled and matted with blood, shimmered in the dim lighting with hints of red and brown. Carlisle had obviously seen to her; her right arm was in a brace, along with her left leg. Briefly, I had a visual of Ryan, and what I must have looked like a few months back when the Cullen's had rescued me. But then my brain had to go too far and compare him and my brother. I hastily pushed the thought aside and focused on the girl.

I could obviously see where Jasper had bit her. The skin was still healing on her neck, below the left ear. There was no blood, and my head did not spin. A small oval was the only indicator that she had been attacked by a vampire. One of _my_ vampires. I promised myself that once Jasper was done moping around, I was going to give him a piece of my mind.

I glanced at Edward, and caught him staring right back at me. I expected him to look away, but he didn't. My breath hitched in my throat when my gaze found his eyes. They were filled with pain, and they looked so deep, so sad, that I couldn't help but move to his side and wrap my arms around him.

"What's wrong, Edward?" I murmured, looking up at his face. He didn't answer me, and my heart throbbed for him; he look as if he was fighting back tears. Tears that could never come.

"Bella." He whispered, his velvety voice laced with agony. "Don't you know…don't you see what she's going through?" He asked, gesturing toward the unnamed suffering girl. She gasped as if on cue, arching her back in pain.

"Yes." I kept my voice quiet and subdued, not quite understanding where he was going with his question.

"And you know that you are going to go through this, too?"

"Yes." I narrowed my eyes at him. "You aren't trying to talk me out of this, are you?"

He shook his head. "Not at all. I was just worried, I suppose."

"Worried?"

Edward nodded. "I thought that this would scare you, frighten you more than any other part."

I snorted and rolled my eyes. "I told you. I'm sticking with my decision. I'm not going to back out of this now."

Edward's answering grin startled me, and I couldn't help but smile back. He leaned down and kissed my nose.

"Well, I can live with that." He said. "Let go downstairs." I was suddenly snapped back to the poor girl next to us, and I blushed. I couldn't believe that I had nearly forgotten about her.

"_Oh well." _I thought somewhat selfishly as we walked down the stairs.

**I guess that's what happens when Edward smiles at you. Haha. Hope you all enjoyed it!**

**Kendra**


	41. Planning

**My readers! I've missed you all. Sorry for the lack of chapters lately, but you know how it goes. "I've been busy…" Blah blah blah. You don't want to hear it. You just want to read! And I can live with that. :)**

**Disclaimer: Still not mine. Only Ryan and Simon. Which would basically be this chapter so…yeah, a lot of this is mine. :)**

**Enjoy!**

"We need to finalize the plans and start moving or we're going to run out of time!" Ryan complained from across the room. I rolled my eyes and leaned forward over the counter, fixing my hair.

I couldn't believe that Ryan, of all people, had hunted me down. He had some freakish plan that he needed me a to be a part of. Something to do with the Cullens, which I wasn't totally against getting involved in. He wanted to kidnap the mysterious, beautiful girl that I'd seen before in the window. I couldn't get anymore information out of him about her other than her name. Bella. It was like music to my ears.

And I had to admit that I wanted to make Edward jealous of me. Him with his "sexy hair" and "musical talents". Just thinking about it made me want to vomit. There was no way that this Bella girl would want to be with him after she met me.

The last time I'd seen her though…well, I didn't really _see _her, per se, but she was there. She was so well protected that I couldn't see how we could even have a hope of breaking the Cullen's mysterious barrier to get to her. Ryan tried convinced me that it was only one of their friend's powers that caused it to be there, and that we would strike when their friend wasn't around. But I just wasn't sure. It didn't look like it would be easy, especially with Alice's future-seeing thing going on. Ryan, of course, claimed to have a plan for that, too. Although I wasn't allowed to know what that one was.

Satisfied with my hair, I turned to him. "I'm not finalizing any 'plans'. This was all your plan. Get it straightened out, or _I'm _out. I'm tired of playing these games."

He glared at me, his scarlet eyes flashing with anger. "Stop being such a brat." He snapped. "You want this Bella girl, don't you?" I nodded meekly at him, unsure of what to say. I didn't really want to back out; I needed to win over Bella.

"Alright then." Ryan said, his earlier anger disappearing, replaced by a smug look. "I told you that you could have her. After she brings Edward to me, she's all your's." I grinned at him, slowly putting together the pieces. He didn't like Edward either. He probably wanted to kill him. I couldn't think of any other explanations for his actions.

"Besides, she's not nearly as good as you're making her sound." He muttered under his breath, fiddling with his Blackberry. "Been there, done that. Yawn." I felt my mouth pop open, but I was too stunned to ask any questions. Ryan _did _know Bella. My mind was spinning with all the possible reasons that he might have for my help. Maybe he only needed me as a distraction and then he was going to take her for himself. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Until I really processed his words. He didn't seem interested in her. Maybe it was just a fling, back from a few years ago and he wasn't even considering her again. Maybe she was out of the picture for him. I set myself on this idea and decided that, just incase, I would make as many plans as I could to get her away from him as soon as I could.

"How long will I have to wait until I can take of with her? I want to go back to Paris." I sighed longingly, my thoughts shifting suddenly. I missed France. I missed my home. This girl was the only thing that was holding me back here in America.

"Just until Edward comes looking for her. And finds her. Then you can take off." He assured me, glancing up only slightly to acknowledge my question. I nodded to myself and turned back to the mirror. I opened my contact case and popped in a new pair, blinking rapidly as the thin plastic formed itself over my eye. I had gotten use to wearing these; they didn't bother me nearly as much as they had in the beginning. And I just loved being a green eyed beauty than a red eyed monster. I shuddered slightly and turned around again.

"I'm heading out to hunt. I'll be back later." I told Ryan, grabbing all the props I needed; my leather jacket, shoes, and wallet. If he said anything else, I missed it as I left our suite and the hotel, hailing a taxi and asking for an address on the outskirts of town.

This was my definition of easy hunting. The driver would take me away from town and all the lights and witnesses, and I would strike. As the poor man would die, he'd swerve and probably hit a tree. Thus, a perfect car crash scene for investigators. I'd walk away unscathed and run back to town, leaving him behind for some unsuspecting traveler to find. And then a few days later, I'd see the tragic story on the news. No one ever thought that there was foul play involved. Just an unlucky situation for an unlucky -and very dead- man.

I smiled to myself and leaned forward, grasping the man's neck and biting him just below his ear. A few seconds later, an airbag burst in my face as the car slammed into an ancient oak tree.

_Perfect, _I thought to myself. _Just another perfect kill._

**Ew…gruesome. Haha. Oh, and if you didn't guess, that was Simon's POV. Remember him? :)**

**Kendra**


End file.
